Interview with a Scourge
by Haley Teague
Summary: ***Back after a REALLY looong break!*** The nerds, assassins, and a history lesson about a certain family of vampires all contribute to the festivities in this early season six story.
1. Things That Go Bump

Title: Interview with a Scourge  
  
Author: Haley Teague – haleyteague@hotmail.com  
  
Part: 1/12-15 (in theory)  
  
Disclaimers: I own them not. Once you get over your shock at this fact, feel free to read the story.  
  
Spoilers/Setting: After "All the Way" – the season 6 Halloween episode. To recap: Tara hasn't left Willow yet and Willow's still big in the magic. Dawn's there, feeling ignored and underappreciated. Anya and Xander have just announced their engagement. Giles is still in Sunnydale. Spike and Buffy are just friendly; they haven't made with the smoochies (or anything else) yet. Buffy's bordering on learning to function with the depression - and everyone but Spike still thinks she was in Heaven. Oh, and the nerds are still periphery – no dead ex-girlfriends yet and Buffy doesn't even know that they've combined to be pains in her ass.  
  
Feedback: Always appreciated. I'm trying my darndest to be true to the continuity of the world and the characters and relationships in this time and place. Please, oh please, e-mail me if you spot any glaring errors. (And feel free to check out my other story, "Doesn't Anyone Stay Dead Around Here?" Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge.)  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
"Fear is a very powerful motivator, perhaps even the most powerful known to man. People succumb the easiest to mob mentality because of fear. All those movies with scared villagers toting torches and pitchforks are easy to believe because deep down we know that in a similar situation, we'd rather be armed and in the crowd, than alone and vulnerable. Fear is also arguably the greatest source of mythologies, especially about things that live in the dark and might one day jump out yelling 'Boo!'"  
  
Willow sat, taking notes in class as the professor continued.  
  
"I know Sunnydale has a reputation for being a bit strange. In fact, when I moved here this summer, one of the first things people told me was to be careful. A few even warned me about being out after dark. I asked what they meant, but no one would be more specific."  
  
The dark haired man paused as he noticed some students nodding. Others, however, studiously avoided his gaze. The young professor shrugged, attributing their avoidance to standard don't-call-on-me behavior, rather than discomfort with the subject matter. He noticed a young woman with vibrant red hair in the second row watching him thoughtfully, almost as if debating whether or not to speak.  
  
"These warnings could simply be people being friendly neighbors. But what other, cultural causes might we attribute it to?"  
  
"Urban legends?" a woman in the back called out.  
  
"Good. What else?" the professor prompted.  
  
"Things that go bump in the night!" the boy next to Willow volunteered, the hint of laughter in his voice revealing his disbelief in said things.  
  
"Yes," the instructor responded. "The abundance of myths and stories about dangerous creatures that come out after the sun sets certainly gives us a historical and cultural basis to fear the night. After all, in the dark, we're at a disadvantage. All the easier for monsters to sneak up on us." He turned and addressed the boy who has spoken. "But you're laughing. Do you think there are things that go bump in the night?"  
  
"Yeah," the student wasn't even trying to hide his laughter at this point, "me!"  
  
Others in class laughed good-naturedly, but Willow just rolled her eyes and sighed. This was exactly the kind of idiot she had risked her life fighting the good fight for during the last six years. It hardly seemed worth the effort to save such a buffoon. *Just because he's stupid doesn't mean he deserves to be some vampire's midnight snack!* she reminded herself sternly.  
  
The professor noticed Willow's reaction to the other student's joke. "Do you disagree, Ms., ah, Rosenberg?" He glanced down at his roster to reaffirm her last name.  
  
"I, um, just think," Willow started, her mind simultaneously berating herself for letting her reaction show so much and racing to find a suitable answer, "that we shouldn't dismiss such stories out of hand. I mean, they may seem fantastical, but fear is a very real emotion. And while we often fear things without need, or, or cause, that doesn't mean that there's nothing to fear."  
  
She clamped her mouth shut as soon as she realized she was rambling.  
  
"Good," he favored her with a smile. "So there might be a basis for some of these myths." He glanced at the clock before continuing. "That's all for today. On your way out, don't forget to grab a packet with the reading for next class. I thought about having you read "Dracula" or "Frankenstein," but decided to go with a less well known myth. It's shorter, too. Come prepared to discuss the story in the context of cultural fears that may have inspired it, and what other reactions it may have influenced in turn."  
  
As the students collected their things and shuffled out of the room, Willow hung back. She really liked this instructor. He was challenging and interesting without being boring. He may not believe that the forces of darkness roamed the streets of Sunnydale at night, but then again, not many native Sunnydale residents were willing to admit that possibility.  
  
As the classroom cleared, she picked up her copy of the assigned reading and glanced back at him.  
  
"They're right, you know," Willow said. Seeing his confusion, she continued. "Your neighbors. You shouldn't be too quick to dismiss their warnings. Sunnydale's not the safest town after dark. We, we have a pretty high death rate. Be careful."  
  
Willow walked out the door before he could respond, congratulating herself on having done her good deed for the day. *Hopefully he'll listen to me,* she thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Warren left the pet store carefully carrying a cardboard box with a mesh lid. He got in the passenger seat of the Trio's black van and nodded at Jonathan, who drove away as soon as Warren's door closed.  
  
"So," Andrew asked excitedly as he leaned forward to peer at the box over Warren's shoulder. "What's this great surprise?"  
  
"Spiders," Warren responded smugly.  
  
"What?" Andrew's voice rose an octave as he quickly jerked backwards. "What kind? Are they dangerous?"  
  
"Oh course they are, you girl!" Warren said derisively. "What good are harmless spiders? And we're going to make them even more dangerous."  
  
Jonathan concentrated on suppressing his shivers of disgust as he struggled to pay attention to the road. What he really wanted to do was stare at the box in Warren's lap to make sure none escaped. No, check that, what he really wanted to do was drop the whole box in a vat of insecticide, or a pot of boiling water, or flush them down the toilet, or anything that would get rid of them.  
  
"What kind are they?" he asked cautiously.  
  
"Brown recluse."  
  
"WHAT?" The van swerved sharply as Jonathan turned to stare at Warren. He quickly righted their course and then asked, "Are you crazy? Those things are really poisonous!"  
  
"Like I said, what good are harmless spiders?" Warren asked exasperatedly. Why did he have to put up with these spineless morons? He sighed before continuing, "They're a present for the Slayer."  
  
* * * * *  
  
When Willow got home, Tara and Dawn were sitting at the dining room table doing homework. In truth, Tara had finished hers earlier, and was now helping Dawn with math.  
  
"Hey sweetie," Tara looked up and smiled as the red-head walked through the door. "We were just about to break for supper. Are you hungry?"  
  
"Sure," Willow replied. "Just let me put away my stuff and I'll be right down." She turned and went up the stairs to the room she shared with the other witch.  
  
Willow unpacked her class materials and set them on the desk. As she walked out, Willow paused. She was curious what the reading for next week was about, considering that "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" were the second choices, but decided it wasn't going anywhere. She left the room and went to join Dawn and Tara. The reading packet sat on the desk face up with the title displayed to the empty room.  
  
"The Scourge of Europe."  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: I hope this has sufficiently whet your appetite. I plan to post every two days at the least, providing I don't hit any huge writing blocks. As a reader, I hate being left hanging for extended periods of time, though, so I'll do my best not to do that to you. I'm not totally in love with the title, so if you have any ideas, please let me know. ht 


	2. Just Another Night on Patrol

CHAPTER 2  
  
In their lair, the Trio, the uncool trinity as it were, prepared the next evil scheme in their quest to be supervillains. Warren was standing near the stairs, waiting impatiently for the others to finish. Andrew was digging through a box of comic books, and Jonathan divided his time between gathering magick supplies and casting furtive glances at the box of spiders sitting on the table next to Warren.  
  
"And remember that X-Files where Mulder finds the robot bugs and that scientist guy in the wheelchair tells him that an alien race would be technologically advanced enough to send its first wave of scouts disguised as common insects?" Andrew asked as he looked up from his task. "Is that what we're going to do? Make robot spiders and sic them on the Slayer?"  
  
"What do we need robot spiders for?" Jonathan asked him. "We've got cameras everywhere."  
  
"Yeah," Andrew almost breathed the word. "But Mulder's just so cool, and . . ." he paused realizing how thin the ice he was treading on really was, before continuing quickly. "And Scully's really hot."  
  
Warren took a deep breath, his patience wearing thin. "I could make robot spiders. I mean, I'm capable of it. But modern technology doesn't make parts small enough. Besides, gentlemen, why would we need the real spiders then?"  
  
"Oh," Andrew pondered this, failing to come up with another suitable possibility. The robot spiders were about the fifth idea Warren had shot down. Suddenly a smile lit up his face. "This is so cool!"  
  
When the others failed to respond, he continued. "We're going to expose them to something radioactive and then let them bite us!"  
  
"They're poisonous, dickweed!" Jonathan exclaimed.  
  
"But we'd be just like Spiderman, buttwipe," Andrew almost wined. "Only there'd be three of us, so it'd be like Spiderman meets the Three Musketeers. That would be such a cool crossover!"  
  
Warren and Jonathan just looked at him, but Andrew was already lost in dreams of what the comic book cover would look like.  
  
"Okay, I'm ready," Jonathan announced, shaking his head to escape the moment.  
  
"You got everything?" Warren demanded.  
  
"Yeah," the shortest member of the Trio replied. "I've got the candles and the herbs and my magick-"  
  
A snort escaped Andrew.  
  
"-demon bone," Jonathan finished, emphasizing both words in an effort to instill the proper respect for the magickal item in his associates' minds.  
  
Andrew erupted into full-fledged giggles.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The three nerds sat in their van, two sets of eyes glued to the monitor screens which showed the feed from the newest additions to the quickly growing camera network they'd named "Slayer Cam."  
  
Jonathan, the only member not facing the screens, looked up from the pattern of sand and herbs surrounded by lit candles in front of him, and asked, "Why are we doing this again?"  
  
"Because," Warren said tightly, "it'll keep the Slayer busy and give us an idea of her response time to something like this. That way, we'll have an advantage next time we need to distract her. Remember when everyone lost their voices a couple of years back and the whole town was quarantined? All that chaos makes for good crime opportunities, and keeps the Slayer out of the way defending the peace. When we're ready to make a move, we'll know what to expect from her." *Or maybe she'll get herself bitten and just die now,* he thought happily to himself. "Now make with the magick, Siegfried!"  
  
Jonathan sighed and began chanting in Latin and waving his magick bone above the pattern on the floor. A bright glow could be seen emanating from the screens, thereby lighting Andrew and Warren's faces. Whatever their cameras were focused on, Jonathan's magick was affecting it.  
  
As the glow subsided and the three settled in to wait for the show, Andrew muttered, "I still think we should have kept one and named it 'Shelob!'"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Buffy and Spike walked quietly through one of Sunnydale's numerous cemeteries, looking for vampires, demons, or other evil prowling around that night. So far, they had covered the vast majority of the usual baddie stomping grounds and they hadn't seen a thing. To be fair, though, the vampire had spent a significant portion of the patrol stealing glances at his quiet companion rather than concentrating on the surroundings.  
  
*This time last year she would have been twirling her stake like she was some wild west gunslinger and taunting the empty air for lack of action,* he thought shaking his head. *Course, that was before…* Even in his thoughts, Spike still had a hard time forming the word "dying" in reference to the diminutive slayer who had captured his heart.  
  
He was pulled from his musings by the faint sounds of a cry for help coming out of the woods off to his right. Buffy turned and took off before he could comment. *All business these days,* he thought sadly, longing for her lost spark, before following.  
  
As the pair ran though the trees, the cries for help got louder. Although Buffy was fast, Spike's supernatural speed, combined with his longer legs, allowed him to catch up with her. Up ahead the trees broke into a clearing with a wooden shanty in it. It stood alone in the center of the clearing and was about ten feet by ten feet. If it'd had a flat roof instead of the traditional pointed one, it would have almost made a perfect cube.  
  
Buffy slowed a bit to scout the clearing for dangers before bursting into it and Spike fell in beside her. Matching each other stride for stride, the two took the final steps out of the trees' cover, seeing nothing else in the clearing. Just as they reached the edge of the foliage, slayer and vampire found themselves being pulled up in the air.  
  
The ropes of the concealed net quickly entangled the pair, as it pulled both up off the ground.  
  
"Ouch!" Buffy exclaimed as her head connected with Spike's.  
  
"I always said you were bloody hard-headed, Slayer," Spike grumbled as he tried to raise his hand to his aching head. However, he found his efforts hindered by both the net and the force of gravity pushing him and Buffy against one another in the center of the enclosure.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Inside their van, on the outskirts of the wooded area, the nerds watched Buffy and Spike's capture and high-fived each other before Warren admonished his cohorts to settle down and watch the rest.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the clearing, the cries for help stopped short and both Slayer and vampire immediately noticed. The pleas were replaced by a chilling, cackling, and continuous laughter.  
  
"The shed," Spike said as he looked closely at it, his sore head forgotten.  
  
"It looks new," Buffy agreed with his unspoken observation.  
  
As the trapped patrollers watched, a latch sprang up on each side of the roof. Each latch popped away from the structure, swinging out and up, freeing the wall it had been holding in place. Almost as if in slow motion, all four walls fell outward, collapsing on the ground, leaving only four poles supporting the roof.  
  
That wasn't the most startling thing about the collapsing shanty, though. As soon as the walls hit the earth, the square-shaped mass that had been inside broke as if released from a mold. Buffy's eyes grew wide with horror as she figured out what the mess of segmented legs and blobs was.  
  
"Oh my," she whispered, her stomach rolling as wave after wave of giant, sand colored spiders flowed out of where the shack had been.  
  
Each spider's body was approximately three feet in length, with spindly legs making them nearly as wide across. Six eyes, in three pair adorned each beast – one set pointed forward, and another looked out from each side of the head. Vicious, pincher-like fangs glistened from the creatures' mouths, some dripping venom.  
  
As Buffy and Spike watched, they all took off in opposite directions, disappearing into the cover of the forest's darkness.  
  
"Buffy." The uneasiness and urgency in Spike's voice brought Buffy's attention back to what remained of the structure. In the center stood a mannequin with a long blonde wig. In one hand, she held what was clearly a wooden stake, although it appeared to be wrapped in something. A tape recorder lay at her feet, still blaring the blood-chilling cackle. It was the mannequin's dress, however, that truly horrified Buffy. She wore nothing but a long white t-shirt. Written across the chest of the shirt, in bright red paint was one word.  
  
"Slayer."  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: Hey, thanks for all the feedback! I forgot how giddy reviews make me; it's a wonderful feeling! In answer to the questions about ships: My intent is to tell the tale within the confines set by the show during the time period I've placed it in. While I'm a hopeless romantic myself, and would love nothing better than some good loving for our favorite heroine from either of her favorite vamps – and don't think I'm not doing a continual snoopy dance over the possibilities of Buffy "getting what she deserves" in a souled Spike – but that would violate my self-defined boundaries. Plus, part of the challenge for me is to try and write them as they are in a certain setting, rather than how I'd like them to be (at least this go around). For now, I'm going to try and stick to developing the Buffy/Spike quasi-friendship thing they had going on before Sweet came to town, making it all Gone With the Wind and the rising music and the rising…music. (Possibly my second favorite one-liner from the show.) Keep reading, and of course, reviewing. Enjoy! ht  
  
PS: Anyone know any good Star Trek references to spiders or bugs (for Nerd fodder) besides the Voyager where Tuvok and Paris get stranded and have to eat big spiders? Or any other nerd-like cultural references? Please e- mail me if you have any to share. 


	3. Is it True?

CHAPTER 3  
  
"How may I help you spend money?" Anya asked as a man in his early thirties with dark hair and light blue eyes entered the magic shop. She studied him thoughtfully. It had been a slow morning and the young shopkeeper was determined to make up for not meeting her projected profit during the second half of the day. Anya looked for clues that would tell her what kind of customer he was, and therefore increase her chances of making a sale.  
  
The tall man was dressed causally, but by no means sloppily. His neatly pressed chinos and dress shirt led Anya to believe that he was probably not searching for magick ingredients. At least not real ones. Often times, especially around Halloween, members of the general public ventured into the magick store simply on a whim or in search of "magic." What they really wanted in those cases was a cheap optical illusion to show their friends.  
  
Anya continued her mental note taking. Although young, the glasses he wore gave him a serious, studious look. However, Anya knew that looks could be deceiving. After all, a false façade was how an 1120 year old demon had ended up in the body of a human high school senior a couple years back.  
  
"I'm, ah, looking for a Mr., ah, Giles," the man said. "Is he available?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Anya said. "Mr. Giles is visiting a supplier in Los Angeles today. Can I help you?"  
  
"No, no, thank you." The man paused for a moment, thinking. "I, ah, understand he's an expert in local history and, ah, unusual occurrences. I was hoping I might speak with him."  
  
"He'll be back tomorrow," Anya assured him.  
  
"Good." The man nodded. "How late are you open?"  
  
"Until seven o'clock," she replied with a smile. "Are you sure I can't help you find something?"  
  
"No, thank you," he said. "I'll come back tomorrow." With that he turned and headed back out the door.  
  
"Thank you for stopping!" Anya called to his back. "Come back soon and spend money!"  
  
The man turned to look over his shoulder at the shopkeeper's odd statement while walking through the door. In doing so, he failed to see the person coming into the shop.  
  
Willow gasped in surprise as she ran into the man coming out of the Magic Box. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts, she hadn't realized he was there. Apparently he hadn't seen her either.  
  
"Sorry, I–"  
  
"Pardon me, miss–"  
  
Both stopped mid-apology as they recognized the other.  
  
"Professor Gage!" Willow exclaimed before regaining her composure. "Sorry. I-, I wasn't watching where I was going."  
  
"Quite all right, Ms. Rosenberg. My fault, really," he said. "I wasn't paying attention either."  
  
"Right. Well, then…" Willow trailed off nervously.  
  
"I should be going," Gage responded. "I'll see you in class."  
  
Willow nodded and moved past him farther into the Magic Box. As soon as she heard the door close, she made a beeline to the counter and Anya.  
  
"What did he want?" the redhead asked.  
  
"He wanted to talk to Giles," Anya said.  
  
"About what?" Willow pressed.  
  
"I didn't ask. Xander says it's rude to ask strangers about private matters." She cocked her head to the side and studied the young witch. "Why do you have that look?"  
  
"What look?"  
  
"That look like something's wrong and you're not sure what to do. Like you did a spell that went all screwy and you want to fix it before Giles finds out, but you don't know how."  
  
"No, no spell," Willow reassured her. "And I don't know if anything's wrong yet." Turning, she walked right back out of the store before Anya could ask any more questions.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Spike?" Willow called, pushing open the door to his crypt. "Are you in there?"  
  
Receiving no reply, she shrugged and entered the crypt. She scanned the upper level, and finding it Spikeless, she crossed the room and pulled open the trapdoor that lead to the basement area. Willow knelt beside the opening and called out.  
  
"Spike? Spike, are you down there?" She paused, waiting for a response that didn't come. "Spike, it's Willow. I need to talk to you."  
  
When no response was forthcoming, she shrugged and stood up, looking around for the best place to leave a note. She crossed the room to the TV and pulled a piece of notebook paper out of her bag. She hurriedly scribbled a note and placed the paper on top of a larger packet of papers stapled together. She set the entire pile on top of Spike's television. Taking one last look around, she turned to leave.  
  
"Stupid vampires, supposed to be sleeping during the day," she muttered to herself as she walked back out into the sunshine.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Consider this an early Christmas present, Slayer. We've released fifty of our little friends around town just for you. Hope you like it. We didn't keep the receipt."  
  
Buffy looked up from reading aloud the note that had been wrapped around the stake in the mannequin's hand. The Scoobies were gathered around the table in the Magic Box later that evening. Books piled atop one another covered the table as research continued for information on the diamond stolen from the museum, and what type of demon might want it. So far, their research had uncovered very little. To add to that, now they had to deal with a infestation of giant, possibly demon spiders.  
  
"So," Xander asked, "are these like those whatzit spiders we traded with the Mayor for Willow?"  
  
"Definitely no," Buffy said. "These are like the extra large super- sized version of those."  
  
Giles, Xander, and Willow all shifted restlessly, remembering the Mayor and his box of spiders.  
  
"The mannequin's at the house," Buffy continued explaining what had happened the night before. "I didn't really want to bring it inside. I mean it could be just a creepy person-sized doll…"  
  
"Or it could be a bomb or a spy device or something," Xander added.  
  
"Or something," Buffy agreed. "Plus, it had to have been covered in all those spiders, and, ewww…"  
  
The group collectively shivered, each imagining being stuck at the center of a nest of giant spiders.  
  
"How did you get out?" Dawn asked. "Did you have a knife?"  
  
Buffy looked away a moment before answering. "No, we didn't have a knife."  
  
"And?" the teen prodded.  
  
"Let's just say Spike's fangs got more of a workout last night than they have in a long time."  
  
The group stared at her incredulously.  
  
Finally Xander broke the silence with a laugh. "You made him chew you out?"  
  
"Well it was either that or wait for the spiders to do it!" the Slayer defended herself to the now laughing group at the table.  
  
The image of that stopped the laughter cold, as the focus of the gathering returned to the newest Hellmouth creature-feature.  
  
Before anyone could comment further, the door to the basement swung open and Spike stood in the doorway, clutching some papers in his hand. His gaze immediately focused in on Willow.  
  
"Where did you get these, Red?" he demanded.  
  
"I'm guessing that's a big yes in the accuracy department," she responded.  
  
"Where did you get them?" Spike repeated, deadly serious, ignoring Willow's comment.  
  
"Are they accurate?" she responded, not at all intimidated by his glare.  
  
"Yes." Spike nodded curtly, deciding that answering her question would lead to getting his own answered.  
  
"How accurate?"  
  
"Very," he said shortly. "Now, where did you get them?"  
  
"One of my teachers, he gave them to us as a reading assignment," Willow responded. "As fiction. I recognized some of the, um, events from previous research. I wondered how much was true."  
  
"Um," Buffy began, raising her hand to get Willow and Spike's attention. "What are we talking bout here?"  
  
"This," Spike said, throwing the papers down in front of her. She read the title aloud. "'The Scourge of Europe?'"  
  
"One of my classes," Willow explained. "Cultural Studies in Mythology. We talk about myths and stories and how and why people use them to deal with things they don't understand. We spent the first part of the semester talking about, um, death and grief. Professor Gage argues that mythologies about heaven, hell, re-incarnation, and a variety of others are man's way of coping with something he can't control or ever hope to fully understand." She smiled, "Which was kind of ironic. Cuz, you know, what with all the research I was doing for the, uh, resurrection spell."  
  
Buffy winced, but quickly recovered and asked, "Why are you reading this if you're talking about grief?"  
  
"Oh, we're done with that section," the witch responded, waving her hand dismissively. "Now, we're talking about fears and, um, things that go bump in the night."  
  
"And this?" Buffy asked, pointing at the reading packet.  
  
"He said it was fiction," Willow responded. "but, like I said, I thought I recognized some of the stuff in it."  
  
"Is it a true account of…" Buffy trailed off, unsure of how to refer to the glory days of the Scourge.  
  
"Of the good old days?" Spike finished for her, smirking. However, the smirk was quickly replaced by a frown as he confirmed Willow's suspicion. "Yeah. It's, it's more than that."  
  
He looked around apprehensively at the group and steeled himself before continuing. "You probably noticed, Red, that it's written like a, uh-"  
  
"A journal?" she prompted.  
  
"Right. A journal." He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before confessing, "It is."  
  
Buffy glanced down and read the italicized words preceding the text aloud.  
  
"Excerpts from the diary of William the Bloody."  
  
There was a collective gasp from the Scoobies that was almost comical as all heads in the room except Willow's turned to look at Spike in surprise.  
  
"This is your diary?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah." Spike admitted with a scowl. "Parts of it, anyway. It's from the, uh, high years, as it were."  
  
"The high years?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Me and Dru and Angelus and Darla," he began. "From the time I was turned until the poof got his soul. Those were the high years. Of the Scourge. Me, I'm still going strong."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike's need to re-affirm his badness to the group and did some quick math in her head. "So, we're talking about what, a twenty year span?"  
  
"Yeah," the vampire said. "Something like that. Course I had more than just one journal during that time. This is from the first one, though. I didn't go by William the Bloody for long."  
  
"I guessed," Willow said. "The first, um, entry talks about you, um, waking up."  
  
An uneasy silence fell around the table, as they remembered another member of the group who had recently clawed her way out of a coffin.  
  
"The question is," Tara said, attempting to re-focus the others. "How did Willow's teacher get a hold of it?"  
  
"I lost it," Spike shook his head ruefully at the memory. "We got run out of town more than once by a mob and lots of stuff got left behind. Angelus always had a bloody fit. 'Specially 'bout this."  
  
"Why?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Well, Bit," Spike looked sheepish for a second before his Big Bad persona slipped back into place. "I, ah, might have been the reason for the mobs, more often than not. Angelus always did prefer the stalking and mind games to the fight. As for that," he gestured at the papers Buffy still held. "He wasn't too happy about the idea of someone finding it and using it to track us. Some nonsense about patterns and such."  
  
"Well, I know I'm finding this absolutely fascinating," Xander said sarcastically, "But we care why? I mean, so some professor has one of Spike's old journals. He thinks it's fiction, right? So, other than reading about the blood and gore of 'the high days,' what's the big deal?"  
  
"Can I read it?" Dawn asked, reaching for the packet.  
  
"No!" Spike grabbed it from Buffy's grasp. Seeing Dawn's hurt look, he explained. "It's private, Bit. It'd be just like me reading your diary."  
  
"So," Buffy said. "Do we have a problem or not?"  
  
"Oh!" Willow exclaimed, remembering. "He was here today. Professor Gage. To talk to Giles. Anya said he was coming back tomorrow."  
  
"Did he say when?" Spike asked.  
  
The shopkeeper shook her head. "No. But he did ask how late we were open, so I would guess late."  
  
"Okay," Buffy said. "Will, you keep an eye on him in class tomorrow. See what he says. I'll clue Giles in in the morning and we'll go from there. As for the spiders, I'll try to catch one on patrol and see if that will give us any more info. Sound good?"  
  
The others nodded. Buffy noticed that Spike had slipped out the door while she was speaking. She shrugged and looked at Willow.  
  
"So dish, Will," Buffy smiled and leaned in. "Was it bad? I mean, you read it, right?"  
  
Willow shrugged. "It wasn't anything worse than stuff we've already come across about Spike or Angel. But, I don't really think I should talk about it. It, it feels like a violation of privacy. I mean, it's his diary. And, it's written like that. From his perspective and stuff." *If anything,* the witch continued to herself, *it makes his seem more human.*  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: WOW! Thanks for all the nice feedback, again, guys! You made my day! I hope the spiders were creepy enough – I give myself the willies with those things. Next chapter will be more in-dept with Willow's class, for all of you clamoring to find out more about our favorite villainous vampires.  
  
My favorite one-liner: Season Five: "Listening to Fear." (Technically, this may qualify as a two-liner; I'm not sure if Xander's line counts or is just set-up.) The Scoobies are at the University library's astronomy section to research the Queller demon:  
  
Xander: I still don't get why we had to come here to get info about a killer snot monster.  
  
Giles: Because it's a killer snot monster from outer space…I did not say that. 


	4. Back to School

CHAPTER 4  
  
The next morning, Buffy was already up when Willow came down the stairs.  
  
"Hey, Wills," she greeted.  
  
"Buffy," the redhead returned. "How was patrol?"  
  
"Quiet. Neither web nor fang of the big uglies." Changing her tone, Buffy asked offhandedly, "What time is your class today?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
Buffy just looked at her.  
  
"Oh," Willow said. "3:00, why?"  
  
"I was thinking that I should probably come and observe," the blonde responded causally. "You know, as the Slayer and all?"  
  
"Sure, as the Slayer," Willow agreed, trying not to smile. "It's killing you, isn't it? To not know?"  
  
Buffy avoided Willow's gaze and focused on her breakfast. "Well, I just think that we should find out anything we can about Spike." She finally looked up at her friend and admitted, "And I'm curious as a cat detective."  
  
"A cat detective?"  
  
"Well, I figured they're more curious than the normal cat."  
  
"Okay," Willow responded laughing. "I have a break before that class. How about I swing by the Magic Box and get you?"  
  
"Great!" Buffy paused before continuing. "I should probably read the, um, reading. You know, so I'm prepared?"  
  
"Here. It's a good thing I made a copy for Spike because I don't think I'm getting it back from him." Willow pulled the reading out of her bag and handed it to Buffy as she laughed. "This has got to be a first! You want to do my homework!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
That afternoon, Willow and Buffy arrived at class early. They took their seats and chatted about inconsequential matters. They had agreed beforehand to keep their discussion light in order not to betray their knowledge of vampires, and Spike in specific.  
  
The instructor walked in and began sorting though his notes for that day's discussion. Just as he was about to begin, someone slipped into the empty seat next to Willow. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who it was.  
  
"Spike, what are you doing here?" Buffy leaned across the redhead and hissed at the vampire next to her.  
  
"Thought I'd see if everything I've heard about American schools is true," he replied. "And don't call me that. Don't want to give anything away."  
  
Rolling her eyes, Buffy responded in a whisper. "And what should we call you?"  
  
"Hello, pet," Spike stuck his hand out. "Name's William. And you are?"  
  
Buffy ignored his offered hand and slumped back in her seat. Spike chuckled to himself.  
  
"You two behave!" Willow whispered sternly as the professor began to talk.  
  
"Does anyone want to review the reading for us?" Gage asked.  
  
A girl in the back of the room spoke up. "The narrator, William the Bloody, was a vampire. He was part of a family of four vampires, called The Scourge of Europe. Together they killed lots of people. It was pretty bloody."  
  
"Bloody right it was!" Spike mumbled proudly under his breath.  
  
"Yes," Gage said, smiling. "But it was more than bloody. I know you couldn't get everything from the sections I gave you to read, because I left out some of the more gratuitous violence. But other stories about the Scourge tell of them cutting a swath through Europe for many years, leaving a trail of unexplained death and destruction behind them."  
  
When the girl had spoken, Spike sat up a little straighter in his seat. During the professor's words, Willow swore she saw his chest puff out. She gently elbowed him in the side.  
  
"Your head's going to explode if it swells any further," she warned quietly.  
  
"The idea of vampires, creatures that only exist in a fictional world of shadow and death, is a common one throughout history. What can we determine from the mythic idea of vampires itself?" Gage continued.  
  
"They could be a reflection of the wildness and untamable qualities of nature," a blonde girl sitting in front of Buffy said.  
  
"Or a reflection of the inner desires hidden in everyone," another student said. "You know, sort of a Jekyll and Hyde thing?"  
  
"That's good," the professor said, "Vampires lead a very pleasure- oriented life. Much of the vampire lore portrays them as violent, elegant, sensual creatures. They live for blood and sex. They're very much about instant gratification. Who wouldn't want a life where you were strong, forever young, and could have whatever you wanted whenever you want it? Plus, in the case of our main character, he had a beautiful, mysterious vampire lover by his side for all eternity."  
  
"Yeah, but it sounds like this girlfriend was a grade-A psycho!" the jock who had joked about being the thing that goes bump in the night during the previous class called out.  
  
Spike growled softly, until another elbow in the ribs stopped him.  
  
"Be that as it may," the professor said, "it gives the character of Drusilla, well, character. She's more interesting for being slightly crazy and having visions. What does Drusilla's mental state tell us about the time in which this story was written?" Gage asked.  
  
"Don't let Angel drive you crazy before turning you?" Buffy whispered under her breath so low that only Willow and Spike, with his enhanced vampire hearing, could hear.  
  
Willow barely contained the snort that threatened to escape. Seeing her reaction, the professor called on her.  
  
"Miss Rosenberg?"  
  
Willow briefly toyed with the idea of repeating Buffy's remark before answering. "Um, it could be a comment on the understanding of mental health and the lack of understanding of the mentally ill during the Victorian era."  
  
"Very good. Let's go back to the main character. What about the change from the name 'William the Bloody' to 'Spike?'"  
  
"I got the impression he was called William the Bloody before he became a vampire," a boy in the back said. "It's too bad the author didn't tell us why."  
  
"Actually, he was called that when he was human. And the author did tell us why," Gage admitted. "I just didn't include it in your packets. Any guesses?"  
  
Spike's eyes got wide and his body went stiff. Both Buffy and Willow noticed the change in his posture and looked at one another quizzically as the class shouted out guesses.  
  
"He was a murderer when he was human."  
  
"He was in a gang."  
  
"He was a criminal."  
  
"All wrong," Gage said. "And I don't think they had gangs, as such, in Victorian England. Would you believe he was a poet?"  
  
Buffy and Willow's heads both whipped to look at Spike who had closed his eyes and sunk down in his seat. If he could have blushed, he would have.  
  
"William, the man, was a poet. Although not a very good one, from what I gather. Others mocked him and called him 'William the Bloody' for his 'bloody awful' poetry. How does that change your opinion of him?"  
  
Buffy and Willow sat in shock as the class continued, both too surprised to laugh. Seeing Spike's obvious discomfort, and remembering how he had lied about his past saying he'd always been bad, Buffy reached across Willow and grabbed one of his hands, giving it a squeeze of support.  
  
Spike opened his eyes and seeing that neither girl was laughing, he relaxed a little. *If it wasn't for the chip…* Spike thought, more wistfully than seriously.  
  
"So, then, why Spike?" a student asked. "I mean it sounds like a biker or something."  
  
Willow wondered why no one volunteered the correct answer, before remembering that Spike's penchant for railroad spikes hadn't been mentioned anywhere in the assigned reading.  
  
"It certainly does sound tough," Gage agreed. "Do you think that's what he was going for?"  
  
"Yeah," the blonde in front of Buffy answered again. "I mean, think about it. He was ridiculed as a human and then he's the youngest member of his vampire family. The oldest two of which don't sound very nice at all-"  
  
"That's an understatement," Buffy muttered.  
  
"And the other one's nuts. He has to prove himself. He has to prove he's bad enough to be part of their group."  
  
"Okay, let's talk about the other two vampires, Angelus and Darla," Gage said. "What do they tell us about the culture this story was created in?"  
  
Spike relaxed visibly now that the discussion was directed away from himself.  
  
"Darla seemed like a right bitch to me," he spoke up.  
  
"Um, yes," Gage said, looking at the strange young man in black leather that he was sure he'd never seen in class before. "William tells us that she had a very, er, forceful personality."  
  
"Forceful, bitchy whore," Buffy whispered to Willow in a tone one might use to say "Poe-tate-toe, Poe-tot-toe."  
  
"Didn't really like Angelus, either," Spike responded, knowing Buffy and Willow were both rolling their eyes even though he wasn't looking at them. "Seemed like a bit of a prat to me."  
  
"William tells us about Angelus' love of stalking a victim and torturing him or her psychologically," Gage said. "Can you imagine the terror of being stalked by a creature of evil, never knowing when or where he will appear? Never knowing what dark 'present' he might leave you? Not knowing why you've been chosen as a target?"  
  
"Nope, not a clue," Buffy whispered sarcastically.  
  
"Miss?" Gage asked, seeing Buffy speak, but not hearing what she said.  
  
"I, uh, I said I think I can imagine," Buffy said. "I had a boyfriend like that once. One day he just turned all stalkery, following me around leaving creepy little presents."  
  
"Sounds a lot like this Angelus bloke," Spike spoke up from Willow's other side.  
  
"Yeah, he was," Buffy said tightly, mentally giving the vampire the evil eye.  
  
"Okay, so that's a similar situation," Gage agreed. "What else about the story speaks to cultural archetypes?"  
  
"How about the story about the Slayer?" the blonde in front of Buffy volunteered. "When Angelus tells William about the Slayer, the one person in all the world who can fight vampires, all I could think was how cool would it be to be her?"  
  
"Right!" Gage praised the girl. "The idea of a hero, or in this case, heroine, who's strong enough and smart enough to fight these dangerous creatures on her own is very appealing. Possibly even more so because we, as readers, are expected to sympathize with the narrator, William. But he's the incarnation of darkness, of evil. He's the villain. The Slayer is the incarnation of the forces of good. It's a very attractive idea."  
  
"Yeah," Buffy spoke up before she realized what she was doing. "Unless you're her."  
  
"How's that?" Gage asked.  
  
"Think about it. One day, you're minding your own business and some stranger comes up to you and tells you you're chosen to fight the forces of darkness. Not only is your future planned out, but it's not even a long one and you might as well give up on any dreams right now."  
  
"How do you know it's not a long future?" Gage asked, puzzled. "It didn't say that anywhere in the reading."  
  
"Well, I'm thinking fighting monsters as a hobby doesn't exactly equal a long life span," Buffy replied, attempting to explain her outburst. "It's a neat idea, as long as it's someone else."  
  
This time it was Willow who reached out and squeezed Buffy's hand.  
  
"Okay," Gage addressed the class in general. "Unfortunately the story ends a year or so after it begins. There are many small stories, but no overriding plot to the narrative, indicating that this was possibly the first draft of a larger work. Using what you know of these characters and what you know about cultural myths, what would you have happen to these characters?"  
  
"I liked William," the blond girl in the front row spoke up. "Sure, he's a vampire, and therefore a bad guy, but I'd like to see him have a chance for redemption."  
  
"How would you give him that redemption?" Gage asked.  
  
Buffy couldn't resist the opening. "Give him a soul."  
  
Next to Willow, Spike chocked and began coughing. "I don't bloody well think so!" he exclaimed.  
  
"A soul?" Gage asked.  
  
"Sure." Buffy said. "Vampires are soulless. It's part of the whole evil thing. So, giving him a soul would make him good."  
  
"Interesting," Gage nodded, then looked at Spike. "Do you have a different opinion?"  
  
"A soul doesn't make someone good," Spike argued, staring straight at Buffy. "How many fully souled humans do you know that do evil things? Besides, it's much more interesting if he becomes good without a soul."  
  
"And how would you do that?" the professor asked.  
  
Spike smiled smugly, "I don't know…love?"  
  
"Vampires can't love," Buffy responded hotly. "It's part of the no- soul package."  
  
"I don't know about that," Gage said.  
  
"I think Sp-William loved Drusilla," Willow said, trying to diffuse the tension between the blondes on either side of her.  
  
"I think so too, pet," Spike said. "And I think he loved her all the more because of what Angelus had put her through. Not saying it was right, but it made her who she was."  
  
"What are you talking about?" the girl in front of Buffy turned around and asked.  
  
"When Angelus stalked and tormented her and drove her crazy before he turned her," Buffy answered for him, forgetting that the information about Dru's past had not appeared in the instructor prepared reading packet.  
  
"I don't remember reading anything about that," the girl insisted.  
  
Realizing Buffy's mistake, Spike shrugged and smiled charmingly. "We've read other stories about the Scourge. Must have gotten that from somewhere else."  
  
"Okay," said Gage, almost seeing the air thicken between the bickering pair, and desperate to keep the discussion under control. "Now that we've covered the main characters, let's talk about some of the specific incidents."  
  
* * * * *  
  
After dismissing the class, Gage started to gather his materials, and then quickly looked up, remembering that he wanted to catch Willow Rosenberg and her friends before they left. Their nearly constant whispering and the indefinable subtext behind their comments had not gone unnoticed by Gage. Neither had the blondes' knowledge about Drusilla's past, something Gage had never come across in any research besides this book. Clearly, they knew something more than they were telling.  
  
However, by the time he looked up, the three were gone.  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: I suspect, from some of the comments I've been getting in reviews, some of you were hoping for more specific stories about the Four and the swath they cut through Europe in this chapter. Sorry if I disappointed, but I'm rather proud of the chapter as it is. However, I am giving serious consideration to Eledhwen's request for excerpts from this mysterious diary. I hate to start before I get the rest of this story nailed down, because I don't want to leave you hanging. But the ideas are brewing – fire burn and cauldron bubble and all that– we'll see what comes out. Thanks for continuing to read and for the kind words on the review page! I appreciate your patronage. ht 


	5. Bad Memories

CHAPTER 5  
  
Giles looked up from behind the counter as bell rang, announcing a customer at the Magic Box. A young, tall, dark haired man entered and walked to the counter.  
  
"Mr. Giles?" the stranger asked.  
  
"Yes," the watcher replied. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Emmet Gage," the man introduced himself. "I understand you're something of an expert on the history and lore of this area."  
  
"Yes, I am." Giles' guard went up, realizing this man was Willow's professor. He gestured to the research table. "Let's go over here and sit."  
  
As they moved to the table, Giles cast a glance at the training room door, which was only mostly closed. As soon as they had returned from Willow's class, the witch and the two blondes had gone into the room to hide. He had an absurd picture of them in his head, pressed up against the door, straining to hear what the professor was saying. In his mind, he pulled open the door and all three fell face-first into a heap in the open doorway.  
  
"What, er, exactly are you interested in?" Giles asked, returning his attention to his visitor.  
  
"I study myths and cultural beliefs," Gage started to explain. "I was wondering if you'd ever heard anything about a story of a group of vampires calling themselves 'The Scourge of Europe.'"  
  
"I believe I have," Giles said, feigning searching his memory. "But all the stories I've heard about the Scourge were in Europe, and around the turn of the century. Er, that is, the last one. I don't understand what that has to do with local legend."  
  
"I don't think they were just a story," Gage confessed. "I think they were real."  
  
"Oh, my." Giles blinked, trying to decide which way to go in answering the man's question.  
  
Taking Giles' hesitation for disbelief, Gage pressed on. "I found this book in a rare bookstore. It was written like a journal. It outlined the adventures of the Scourge from the point of view of the youngest vampire, William the Bloody. At first, I thought it was just an imitation of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula,' until I realized that 'Dracula' was published after this was dated. Of course, if it was truly fiction, this book could have been written at any time and still the storyline could pre-date 'Dracula.' However, I don't believe it is fictional. I think it's the real journal of a real vampire. There are too many other stories about the Scourge."  
  
"This could have been written after hearing those stories," Giles suggested, deciding to play the skeptic for now.  
  
"But," Gage argued, "I checked in the newspapers and other primary sources of that time period. Many of the towns mentioned in the journal report incidents of unexplained, violent deaths around the same time."  
  
"It sounds like you've done some research about this," Giles commented.  
  
"I have," the other man confirmed. "In fact, I just received a grant to support my study of the Scourge and my quest, if you will, to prove they existed."  
  
"And how are you going to do that?" the watcher asked, removing his glasses and cleaning them on his handkerchief.  
  
"It is my belief that not only were they real, but at least one of them is still alive," Gage announced and then paused. "Or whatever vampires are."  
  
Giles raised an eyebrow. "Really? Which one? And why does that bring you here?"  
  
"I've heard rumors that Angelus was here a couple of years ago. Did you hear about anything that might fit his MO?"  
  
Giles closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting off sadness at the memory of finding Jenny Calendar dead in his bed, courtesy of Angelus. He swallowed before he spoke.  
  
"No, I don't recall any such events," he said quietly.  
  
"Really?" Gage had noticed his reaction and was not convinced. "Are you sure? He liked psychological games. Stalking, killing household pets, leaving the corpses of friends or family of his targets arranged for them to find."  
  
"That's it!" Willow burst out of the training room. It was one thing to ask Giles to find out what the professor wanted. It was another, entirely to stand by and watch, or hear, all the bad memories of Angelus be dragged up. Spike and Buffy looked at one another and shrugged before following the redhead into the shop proper.  
  
"Willow!" Gage exclaimed. "And your two friends." He looked between the four in the room. "What's going on?"  
  
Anya chose that moment to emerge from the shop's basement after putting away new merchandise. Her eyes fell Spike and she zeroed in on the vampire.  
  
"I'm out of Burba weed. Again!" She jabbed her finger in his direction. "I'd really prefer you pay for it, but if you're going to steal it, at least tell me when you clean me out, Spike! It's inefficient and causes me to lose business when I don't re-order in time. Don't make me vampire- proof the storeroom, mister!"  
  
Deciding Spike was appropriately chastised, the ex-demoness spun on her heel and returned to the basement.  
  
"Spike?" Gage's attention was focused on the vampire, and his one word question caused the group to realize the information Anya had revealed.  
  
"It's, uh, just a nickname, really. Got it from, uh-" the vampire searched for an appropriate explanation.  
  
"Driving railroad spikes through people's skulls?" Gage asked.  
  
Knowing the jig was up, Spike sighed. "Yeah." Then he decided to go on the defensive. Giving Gage his best Big Bad leer, he asked, "What's it to you, mate?"  
  
The academic stiffened just a bit and Spike smiled internally. *That's right, baby! Still got it!* he congratulated himself.  
  
"As I was telling Mr. Giles," Gage began.  
  
"Yeah, we heard," Spike cut him off. "You're all interested in the Scourge, looking for the grand poof himself. Why?"  
  
"I want to learn more about them, about you. Find out what's happened to you since the journal."  
  
"Sort of a where are they now, gig?" Spike asked, cocking his head to the side and pulling out a cigarette.  
  
"Not in the store, Spike," Giles said from the table.  
  
The vampire rolled his eyes and left the cigarette dangling from his lips, unlit.  
  
"Er, right." Gage watched the way the group interacted. They didn't seem to fear Spike, yet everything Gage had ever found on the Scourge said that every member was ruthless and cruel. A sudden thought occurred to him.  
  
"You're not all vampires, are you?" he asked, backing up a step or two.  
  
"No," Willow assured him with a smile. She walked across the room and stood in the patch of sunlight pouring in the front window. "Fully human, see?"  
  
"Right. Um, about Angelus," he began.  
  
"He's gone," Buffy said, cutting his question off.  
  
"But he was here?" the man asked excitedly.  
  
Spike rolled his eyes at the man's excitement. Nothing written about the patriarch of the Scourge, including Spike's own journaling, had ever portrayed the master vampire in anything resembling a warm and fuzzy light. No one in their sane mind would seek him out purposely. Obviously, if the git was looking for Angelus, he was daft, mentally unbalanced, or both. Spike pulled out his silver lighter and lit his cigarette, ignoring the pointed look Giles gave him.  
  
"Yeah," Willow said, returning to the group. "Remember when Buffy said she had a boyfriend that went all stalkery like Angelus?"  
  
Gage just looked at her, his eyes growing wide.  
  
"Yeah," Willow repeated, confirming Gage's suspicions. "It wasn't pretty. There was death, and, and pain. None of us really like to talk about it. But Angelus is gone."  
  
Before anyone in the group could decide whether to inform the professor about Angelus' souled counterpart, the front store window shattered and Willow found herself being pushed to the floor by one of Buffy's arms. The other snagged Spike and dragged him down as well. Something whistled through the air where the trio had been standing. Willow and Spike landed on their backs, Buffy on her stomach. She rolled over and the three on the floor, as well as the two men on the other side of the table looked at the arrow sticking out of the wall behind where the three had been standing.  
  
The slayer rose to her feet and looked outside. Seeing no one, and knowing whoever shot the arrow was likely to be long gone, she pulled it from the wall. The front half of the arrow was discolored. It had obviously been coated in some foreign substance. Buffy's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.  
  
Spike began to rise to his feet and was surprised when Buffy's foot shot out, kicking him back down, forcefully, but not brutally.  
  
"Stay down. You too, Will," she ordered both vampire and wicca. Turning to her watcher, she handed him the arrow and said, "Giles?"  
  
He sniffed it and looked between her and the vampire. "Maybe." Turning to the red-headed witch still on the floor, he said, "Willow, could you test this?"  
  
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Spike demanded, rising despite Buffy's glare. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the line of sight of the window.  
  
Gage was torn between watching the exchange and watching Willow. The redhead crawled on the floor until she was protected from the window by a bookshelf and then moved to sit next to Giles. She took the arrow and, muttering something Gage couldn't understand, waved her hand over the arrow. It began to glow with a soft purple light.  
  
Ignoring Giles' disapproving look at her use of magic rather than the science he had expected, she nodded and said softly, "It is."  
  
"Did Faith get out of prison while I was dead?" Buffy demanded. "Because she is so the one who is getting drained this time!"  
  
"Faith?" Spike asked. "The crazy slayer?"  
  
"No, not unless it was recent," Willow responded to Buffy's question. "Cordelia would have told me if Faith was out. And even then, Cordy seems to think she's changed."  
  
"You talk to Cordelia?" Buffy asked. "How much did I miss?"  
  
"After Harmony showed up and spent the night at Cordy's without telling her she was a vamp, we agreed to keep in touch more frequently," Willow explained. "We talk about once a week."  
  
"Harm went to LA?" Spike asked.  
  
"Yeah," Willow responded dryly, looking straight at Spike. "Apparently some big, bad vampire broke her heart. Wonder what that was about."  
  
"Right, then," Giles said, trying to turn the subject back to the recent attack. "It seems clear that someone's after Spike."  
  
"Or me," Buffy said. "If they know what happened with Angel, they could be attempting to kill me, assuming I'll react the same way again."  
  
"Would one of you please tell me what in the bloody hell is going on?" Spike demanded.  
  
Buffy sighed before explaining to him, "Faith shot Angel once with a poisoned arrow. It was some special vampire poison – killer of the dead, I think?"  
  
Willow nodded, confirming the name as Spike let out a low whistle.  
  
"Nasty stuff, that," he said. "Almost always fatal the way I hear tell, and I've never heard of an antidote."  
  
"Oh, there is one," Giles muttered darkly.  
  
Buffy silenced her watcher with a look before turning back to the vampire to explain.  
  
"Draining a slayer is the only cure." As she spoke, Buffy's hand went to the scar on her neck of its own accord.  
  
"You let Angel drain you?" Spike demanded, outraged.  
  
"I tried to catch Faith," Buffy said. "But that didn't work out. And in the end, it's probably for the best. I think I might have killed her." The blonde paused, pulling herself out of the dark memories surrounding her high school graduation. "But I didn't. Catch her, that is. So, yeah. He was dying and I was there."  
  
"I'm surprised the king of hair gel could lower himself to bite the love of his unlife," Spike muttered bitterly, knowing Buffy would never risk herself for him as she had for Angel. Sure, they were almost friends now, and spent a significant amount of time together; but still, Angel was the love of her life.  
  
"I forced him to," Buffy admitted softly. "He didn't want to, but I hit him so the demon would come out and held him to my neck until he feed. Massive blood transfusions? Just another day in the life of our favorite slayer."  
  
She paused and straightened her shoulders. "Guess it's bad memories all the way around today, huh William?"  
  
Spike winced at the emphasis Buffy placed on his human name, fearing the poet jokes were about to start, but the blonde woman mercifully let the subject drop.  
  
"So we think someone may be trying to get to Buffy by poisoning Spike? In the hopes that he'll kill her to get his cure?" Willow asked.  
  
"That," Buffy said, "or someone's just after Spike. Either way," She broke the arrow shaft between her hands. "We'll simply have to keep Spike from getting shot, because I am so not going through that again!"  
  
Spike's heart sank, when he heard Buffy's words. Not that he had expected anything different or that he wanted her to risk her life for his, but somewhere deep inside he refused to give up hope that Buffy could someday think of him as she'd once thought of Angel.  
  
On the other side of the table, the watcher narrowed his eyes at the same time. *Dear Lord,* he thought, *surely she's wouldn't…* But even as the thought surfaced, Giles was forced to admit to himself that there was every possibility Buffy would risk her life to save Spike's if he was shot. The vampire had become almost a part of the group over the past summer and that's just who Buffy was.  
  
Emmet Gage had pretty much been forgotten during the commotion of the attack and his voice startled the other four, reminding them of his presence.  
  
"You're a Slayer?"  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: Oh, cat's out of the bag! Or at least headed that way. Whatever will happen to our fair heroes and what about those darn spiders? I, of course, know the answers, or at least have a pretty good idea. But where's the fun in telling before it's time?  
  
Seriously, thanks for the continued reviews. – I'm glad the humor of Ch 4 was well received. Beyond that, I'm at a loss. Ironic that words fail me when I'm trying to describe how much I appreciate your feedback and encouragement, isn't it? Nothing I think of seems to do justice to what I want to say. So, simply – Thank you. ht 


	6. Eight-Legged Foes

CHAPTER 6  
  
"So what did you tell him?" Tara asked as Willow finished relaying the afternoon's events to the assembled Scoobies later that evening. Xander, Giles, Dawn, Tara, Buffy, and Spike sat around the table. Anya stood behind the counter, counting the day's receipts while she listened to the meeting.  
  
"Not much more than we already had," Willow said. "Which may have been too much. Buffy's the Slayer. Spike's, well, Spike." The young witch shrugged and smiled at her girlfriend. "He already believed that Spike's journal was true, although I think he kind of thought the slayer stuff was, I don't know, vampire urban legend or something."  
  
"He wants to interview Spike further," Buffy commented.  
  
"Really?" asked Dawn, turning to the vampire. "Are you going to do it?"  
  
"Told him I'd think about it," Spike replied. "Not too keen on the idea, but a bloke's got to keep his options open, right? Don't want to tell him too much, especially until we suss out why he's interested."  
  
"Well, what's done is done," Tara commented. "We'll just have to work with what he knows."  
  
"And speaking of done," Xander injected, "are we done with vampire academic adventures? Because I'm kind of worried about the giant demon spiders."  
  
"Yeah, me too," Dawn said, a look of disgust on her face at the mention of Sunnydale's newest insect problem.  
  
"We don't know that they're demon, Xander," Anya admonished her fiancé. "They could just be really big spiders."  
  
"Anya has a point," Giles said. "Buffy, I'd like you to catch one tonight, if at all possible, so that we can examine it."  
  
"Alive?" The Slayer's disgust was evident. "If you think you're giving me a really big butterfly net, Giles…"  
  
"Dear Lord, no," the older man responded. "Feel free to kill it, but try not to, er, destroy any special marks it may have."  
  
"Yeah, so I'm thinking swords and crossbows tonight?" Buffy turned to Spike as she asked the question. "I mean, if at all possible, I'd like to avoid getting within stake range of the suckers."  
  
"Eww!" Dawn agreed.  
  
"Bit of an arachnophobe, are you, Slayer?"  
  
Buffy fixed him with a withering stare before smiling sweetly.  
  
"You get to carry the body."  
  
"And I'll make that a double 'eww!'" Dawn said.  
  
"If you two are finished," Giles began. "I think, considering the attack this afternoon and Willow's professor's interest in Spike, it would behoove us to be on our guard."  
  
"You think they're more than a coincidence?" Willow asked, wrinkling her brow. Professor Gage seemed like such a nice guy. Weird hobby, of course, but who didn't have a skeleton or two in their closet? Of course, on the Hellmouth, those skeletons were just as likely to be literal as metaphoric.  
  
"Will," Xander pointed out, "when was the last time anything happened to us that was a coincidence?"  
  
"Point," the redhead conceded.  
  
"He said he had recently received a grant to fund his study of the Scourge of Europe." Giles said, recalling his afternoon conversation with Gage. "Willow, would there be University records you could, er, hack into to find out who sponsors his grant? That might give us some insight into his motives."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Buffy and Spike patrolled that evening, the vampire taking care to walk a few paces farther away from the Slayer than normal. This was because Buffy kept swinging the sword she carried in her right hand in wide arcs in front of and to her sides.  
  
"I like swords," she said, breaking the silence of the night.  
  
"They make you feel all manly, pet?" Spike asked, taking a drag on the cigarette hanging from his mouth.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Spike almost thought he saw a genuine, if small, smile accompanying her response to his joke.  
  
"There's something, I don't know, elegant about swordplay," she continued, oblivious to the vampire's close examination of her face. "Don't get me wrong. Give me a good stake any day. And there's an art to staking, too. But it's more…"  
  
"Brutal? Vicious? Personal?"  
  
"I was going to say 'fighty,'" she said, finally looking at her companion. When he rolled his eyes at her word choice, she continued. "But personal works. You have to be closer to make the kill and it's… With swords, it's more structured, more formal. Even in a fight to the death, it seems more like an exhibition and less like a fight."  
  
"I always was one for the fist and fangs approach, myse-" Spike stopped short as Buffy suddenly leapt at him, sword raised.  
  
Before he could react, he found himself flat on his back, the Slayer spread out on top of him, and the hilt of her sword slamming down flat against the ground next to his left ear. Too stunned to respond, Spike just stared up at Buffy.  
  
But she wasn't looking at him; instead she was looking around, peering into the darkness. Over her shoulder, Spike could see an arrow sticking out the tree he had been standing in front of. It appeared to be identical to the one fired at him in the Magic Box earlier that day.  
  
Even as Spike processed the fact that Buffy had jumped him to save him from an attack for the second time that day, she was up and running. Spike jumped to his feet also and took off after her. He could just make out another figure – the one she had spotted and was now chasing – disappearing into the woods that lined the graveyard.  
  
The figure raced through the woods, with the Slayer close on his heels, and the vampire close on hers. The attacker saw a break in the trees ahead, and just before he reached it, he glanced over his shoulder to check the progress of his pursuers, even as he continued to run.  
  
Suddenly the man was pulled up short by something he had run in to. He hadn't seen anything, but it was like a wall of thin strands of sticky silk. As he struggled to free himself from it, he started to panic because he was stuck; the last thing he wanted to deal with was an angry slayer and her pet vampire. Sternly admonishing himself for briefly forgetting the knife clipped to his belt, he looked down to check that it was still there. As he reached for the present knife, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and he froze, his blood running cold.  
  
At least a dozen giant spiders emerged from the underbrush as he watched. They quickly covered the ground separating them from him and swarmed. As the first bit, the man screamed. However, his screams quickly faded out as the massive amounts of venom being injected into his body rapidly shut it down.  
  
Buffy skidded to a halt and Spike nearly plowed her over as he caught up. The pair, who in their combined lives, had seen more than their fair share of the gross and disgusting that the world had to offer stared in horror at the sight before them.  
  
There was a wider than average gap between two trees and a giant web had been strung, using the trees as a frame. The attempted assassin had run headlong into the web and was caught. He was covered in the giant spiders, as they bit into his flesh.  
  
The abrupt silence that followed his aborted screams, punctuated by disturbing hissing and biting noises jarred Buffy into action. She pulled the crossbow she had slung around her neck up and began to fire into the throng, aiming for the spider's heads. Unfortunately, after she shot three, the others realized they were being attacked. Since they had sufficiently killed their first prey, they turned and a wave of spiders rolled toward the blonde duo. Buffy dropped the crossbow and made sure she had a firm grip on her sword. Without speaking, she and Spike placed their backs to one another and faced the oncoming horde.  
  
"Apparently we should have brought a really big shoe," Buffy called as the first spider reached her and she sliced it cleanly in half.  
  
"That, or a really big can of Raid," Spike replied, trying to fend three off at once.  
  
"You'd be surprised how well that works sometimes," Buffy replied. "Moving."  
  
She somersaulted through the air over four spiders and made quick work of them before they could turn around.  
  
Spike decapitated one of his, while kicking another away from him. It landed on its back and while it struggled to right itself, Spike stabbed it quickly.  
  
"Yeah?" he called, picking up the conversation.  
  
"Ask Xander about the preying mantis that wanted to mate with him sometime."  
  
Buffy's sword whistled through the air as she cleaved another spider in two.  
  
Spike finished the third one, only to find the last one sneaking up on him from behind. He stabbed it through the large body part of the arachnid, pinning it to the ground.  
  
"Willow bought him a bottle of 'Off,'" Buffy said, moving closer to Spike and the dying spider. "Told him to wear it as aftershave."  
  
A snort of laughter escaped Spike before turning to focus on the situation at hand. "Suppose it's dead yet?"  
  
As he asked, the spider twitched and both warriors took a step back.  
  
"Let's give it another few minutes," Buffy said. "We should see if Mr. Fly is enjoying his time in the parlor."  
  
Spike's eyebrow rose in question.  
  
"Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Right. I'm pretty sure he's dead."  
  
The two approached the web carefully, watchful for any more eight- legged enemies.  
  
"Yup," Buffy said. "Definitely dead. What's this?"  
  
One of the man's hands had yet to swell from the venom and Buffy pulled a ring off his index finger.  
  
"I've seen this somewhere before," she said examining it closely.  
  
Spike peered over her shoulder at the ring. His lips tightened into a thin line when he saw it, but he didn't comment. Instead, he said, "We should get going, luv."  
  
Buffy pocketed the ring and agreed. "Yeah. I'll come back tomorrow and, I don't know, burn all these spiders or something. Grab our friend and let's go."  
  
"Bloody hell, woman!" Spike exclaimed. "I'm not your sodding bell boy!"  
  
"I told you, you were carrying it!" She walked off leaving Spike no choice but to pick up the now-dead spider and follow.  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: Okay, so the spiders may act abnormally for being just really big brown recluses; if you're an entomologist or something, let's just chalk abnormalities up to Jonathan and his magick bone, huh? The previous descriptions of them should be accurate, but aside from that…  
  
Thanks, once again, for the encouraging reviews. I really appreciate them. Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I'm debating between two ways to go with the story and don't want to box myself in a corner or run out of story before I decide where I'm going. I'll try to pick up the pace. ht 


	7. More Questions Than Answers

CHAPTER 7

Anya frowned to herself as she unlocked the front door of the Magic Box the next morning.  The source of her displeasure was the wooden paneling covering the space left by the glass broken during yesterday's attack.  Xander had promised to fix it last night, but couldn't get a piece of glass big enough until today, which meant that the window wouldn't be fixed until after he got off work that evening.  A board instead of a window discouraged customers from coming in, as well as hindered attracting potential money spenders who came in after window-shopping.  That was a phrase Anya had never understood.  How could one shop through a window, since one had to come into the store to exchange money for goods or services?  Nevertheless, no window was sure to equal a loss in the day's profits.

As the ex-demoness walked around the store, making sure that nothing had been disturbed during the night, she passed the open door leading to the training room.  Glancing inside, she froze at the sight that greeted her.  One of the giant spiders Buffy was looking for was in the training room – on top of something that looked person sized and shaped!

Anya quickly glanced around, searching for a weapon.  Unfortunately, they were all in the training room.  _Whose dumb idea was that? she huffed to herself as she wracked her brain for an alternative.  Nodding to herself, Anya grabbed the largest, thickest book off the research table, and, holding it in front of her, approached the training room._

_I have to do this quick,_ she thought, remembering how rapidly normal spiders could move when spooked.  Taking a deep breath, Anya stormed into the room, yelling a battle cry.  She charged, the book raised above her head clearly intended to be brought down with some force and squish the spider flat, regardless of the fact that the book, despite its considerable size, was still significantly smaller than the spider.  

As she crossed the room, a dark blur flew at her from the size, tackling her and preventing her from reaching her target.  Assuming the blur to be another spider, Anya's war cry changed to screams of terror and she began to struggle furiously, hitting her attacker repeatedly with the book.

"Bloody hell, woman!" Spike hollered as he let go of Anya and rolled away from her and the heavy volume she had been pummeling him with, clutching his head both because of her blows and the zap he'd received from the chip for tackling her in the first place.

"Spike?" Anya paused, recognizing the distinctive accent and phrase.  "What are you doing here?"

"I was sleeping," the vampire muttered and crossed the room to the green loveseat against one wall.  His duster was lay over one arm.  He reached into a pocket and retrieved his cigarettes, lighting one.

"Here?" Anya asked, also rising.  She was about to protest Spike smoking inside when she remembered her reason for charging into the training room.  She whirled to face the spider and pointed.  "With that?"

Spike smirked.  "Certainly not my first choice of bedmate, but… All your bloody screaming woke me up."

It slowly registered with Anya that the spider had not moved since she'd first seen it.  As she cautiously approached it, she recognized that the human figure it lay upon was the straw dummy Xander had made.  In fact, a sword still pierced the spider's body, pinning it to the human figure in a bizarre and disturbing parody of how insects are pinned for display.

"Why are you here?" Anya asked, finally turning her attention back to Spike.

"Yeah, Spike," Buffy's voice came from the door.  Turning, Spike and Anya saw Buffy, Giles, and Dawn standing in the doorway.  "Why are you here?"

"There was another attack while we were on patrol last night," the vampire replied, catching the others up.  "Same kind as before.  Spiders killed the guy before we could catch up with him.  But he was human.  When I went back to the crypt last night, there were humans there waiting.  Thought they might be the same group.  Decided not to stick around to find out."  He shrugged.  "Needed somewhere to go."

"Is that the one you caught?" Dawn asked, moving closer to examine it.  "Cool."

"Don't touch it," Buffy warned her.

"It's dead, isn't it?" Anya asked in alarm.

"You guys!" Dawn said excitedly.  "Do you know what kind of spider this is?"

"The nasty kind?" Buffy asked.

"No.  Well, yeah," the younger Summers replied, taking a breath as she sorted out her thoughts.  "It's a real kind of spider, not a demon kind."

"Are the demon kind not real?" Anya asked curiously.  "Because I know I've seen demon spider-like creatures before."

"No," Dawn said, shaking her head.  "What I mean is… In school we're doing a unit in biology on bugs.  And we just talked about all kinds of different spiders and how to identify them.  See that violin shaped design on the front part?  That means this is a brown recluse.  Or the i-max version anyway."

"Dear Lord," Giles said, removing his glasses.  "Are you quite sure?"  He paused, as if noticing for the first time that it was Dawn who was speaking.  "And shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"No school.  Parent/Teacher conferences," Dawn replied.  "And yes, I'm quite sure of what they are.  Only thing is, they don't live here."

"Are you sure, Dawnie?" Buffy asked.  "I'm positive I heard something on the news at some point about brown recluse spiders in California."

"My teacher said those were all false reports.  They don't live here," Dawn insisted.

"She's right," Willow said having entered the shop and overheard the tail-end of the conversation.  "Brown recluses aren't native to California.  They live more in the midwest and southern midwest. I suppose you could import them, though."

"Wait!" Anya said, turning to Dawn.  "Are they poisonous?"

"Yeah," the teen nodded gravely, backing up a few steps from the dead spider.  "They're really poisonous.  And I bet with those big fangs, comes even more venom."

"Well, you know what they say," Willow said cheerfully.  "The bigger the fangs, the…" The young witch trailed off, uncertain of how to finish her quip.

"Harder they bite?" Spike asked, smirking.

"Willow," Giles began, trying to keep the group on-track.  "Did you have any luck tracing Dr. Gage's grant money?"

"Oh, yeah!" the redhead exclaimed.  She began digging in her bag as she spoke.  "I traced the account the money originated in.  I've got the name here somewhere.  And there was only one other transaction from that account.  Let's see…" She pulled a paper from her bag before continuing.  "Here it is.  The account belongs to a Nikki Wood.  Ring any bells?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Giles said.  "I recognize that name."  He paused, thinking.  "But I can't place it."

"She's dead," Spike said.

The others turned to look at him quizzically.  When no one commented, he continued.  "She's dead.  It's not her."  

"Who is she, Spike?  And how do you know she's dead?" Buffy asked.

Before the vampire could respond, Giles snapped his fingers, his memory finding the information he was seeking.

"She was a slayer," the watcher said.

Spike nodded.  "She was my second."

"I guess," Buffy said, breaking an awkward pause following Spike's confession.  "We can safely assume the attacks were targeted at Spike.  I mean, the name's got to be symbolic, right?"

"Most likely," Giles agreed.  "Willow, you said there was another transaction on that account?"

"Yes," Willow said, nodding her head.  "There was the grant and a large transaction to another account.  The name on the second account was T. Araka."

"Oh, balls," Spike groaned.  "Bloody karma.  Slayer, show the watcher the ring you found."

Buffy glared at Spike, partly for ordering her around, partly because she'd forgotten about the ring and he'd remembered.  Nevertheless, she pulled it from her pocket.

"I know I've seen this somewhere, I just can't remember where," she said, handing the ring to Giles.

The older man took one look at the large gold ring before exclaiming, "Bloody hell!"

"What?" Willow said, taking the ring from Giles.  It had a large, round face.  The design on the ring's surface was an intricate design or crisscrossed, slightly curved lines creating a complex fleur design.  A memory surfaced and Willow practically breathed the conclusion that Giles and Spike had already reached.  "The Order of Taraka."

"The order of what?" Dawn asked, concerned by the other's obvious discomfort with the discovery.

"A centuries-old order of assassins," Anya responded.  "Very well respected and very deadly."

"Don't worry, Dawn," Buffy reassured her sister.  "No matter how tough they are, we've beat them before."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Buffy looked pointedly at Spike.  "Back in high school, a certain bleached blonde vampire sicced them on me."

"Wait," Willow said.  "Something doesn't add up.  What self-respecting assassin group has payments transferred to an account with such an obvious name?"  She turned to Spike.  "Do you remember when you hired them?  How did you pay them?"

"Actually," Giles said, "that brings up a rather interesting point?  How did you pay them?"

"I didn't," Spike replied, thoughtful, purposely ignoring the watcher's underlying question about how he could have afforded the well-known, and undoubtedly costly, assassin organization's services.  "They take payment upon completion of the job.  Since I was presumed dead after that debacle in the church the contract was cancelled. I never paid them."

"You don't have to pay ahead of time?" Buffy asked curiously.

"It's not like you can skip out on paying them," Spike said.  "They do the job, they'll hunt you down if you don't."

"So why the transaction?" Buffy asked.  "Another contract?"

"Maybe," Giles said.  "However, I must agree with Willow that it seems highly unlikely that such an organization would have money transferred into an account with such a glaringly obvious name.  Willow, can you find out how much is in the Taraka account and anything further on the Nikki Wood account?"

"But the ring," Anya began.

"Could easily be a fake," Giles replied.  "The Tarakan symbol is well known throughout the world."

"Whether it's the bounty hunters from hell or not," Buffy said, "someone's gunning for Spike.  He can't stay at his crypt.  If he wasn't staying with us, I'd make him stay with Giles."

"What?" the watcher looked up, surprised.

"Oh, come now, Rupert," Spike said.  "You know you liked it."

Buffy rolled her eyes.  "Since that only leaves Anya and Xander, and I can imagine how well that would be received, I guess you'll have to stay at our house with the rest of us."

Seeing Spike's eyes light up, she quickly added, "But only until we deal with this."

Willow went back into the main shop area and set up her laptop.  Dawn sighed, almost wistfully.

"It's too bad things always have to be evil," she said.

"No, Dawn," Anya said.  "The world requires a balance.  There has to be evil for there to be good."

Dawn, Giles, Buffy and Spike looked at the shopkeeper, surprised at the sudden moment of philosophy from the normally practical woman.

"I know," Dawn said.  "It's just that once, I'd like it to be something nice.  Like, why can't the big spiders be like Charlotte?"

"Charlotte?" the ex-demoness asked.

"From 'Charlotte's Web,'" Dawn explained.  "It's a children's book.  Charlotte's this nice spider who writes messages in her web.  Only it's sad at the end, because she dies.  But all her baby spiders go off to live happy lives and…oh my god.  What if they have baby spiders?"

+++++

A/N:  Now there's a scary thought!  Not to mention the kinds of things the spiders would write in their webs if they were really closely connected to the Nerds.  Hmm…I'll just leave that to your imaginations.  Again, sorry for the delay.  I thought I was ready for full speed ahead, but all my ducks suddenly abandoned their rows.  I think I've got them lined back up now, so cross your fingers that they don't decide to scramble again.  Thanks for continuing to read and for the encouraging feedback.  I really, really appreciate it!  ht


	8. Icky Ways To Die

CHAPTER 8

Buffy looked distinctly ill at the possibility.  "Don't spiders have like a million babies at once?" she asked, with trepidation.

"Yeah," Dawn nodded slowly, then brightened.  "Oh, but I remember!  Brown recluses only reproduce from May until August, like most spiders.  You've got months to kill them."

"Hey guys!" Willow called from the other room.  "I think I've got something."

Once the others had moved to the table Willow was working at, Spike asked, "What'd you find, Red?"

"Well, the T. Araka account only has the money in it from the Nikki Wood account," Willow said.  "In fact, it was opened right before that transfer.  Sure they could open a new account for each customer, but then you'd think the name wouldn't be so obvious.  So, that's kind of suspicious.  Also, Nikki's account was opened just before that, too.  I'm tracing where the money in her account originally came from."

"Something else that doesn't add up," Buffy said.  "Why is Willow's teacher here?  He said he's looking for Angel, but he's pretty well known in the demon community.  You'd think anyone who'd direct Gage here, would tell him about Angel's soul."

"Unless he wasn't sent here to find Angel, but Spike," Giles said, following Buffy's logic.

"Right," the petite blonde said.  "We didn't ask, but I'd bet whoever sent him here is the same someone whose paying his grant.  So, the question is why?  You don't think he's a Tarakan, do you?"

"No," Willow said.  "For one, the money for his fake grant wouldn't have come from this anonymous benefactor who is also paying the Tarakans.  If what Spike told us is correct, the Tarakans would have paid for the grant, right?"

"It seems rather elaborate for them, too," Buffy said.  "The others, they just came and attacked.  A little subterfuge, but not this much."

"Big word there, Slayer," Spike said.

She shot him a dirty look and asked, "Do you really want to be making fun of me while I'm trying to help you?"

The vampire was saved from responding by the ringing of the bell above the shop door.  Xander entered and gave the room a general greeting.

"Xander!" Anya exclaimed.  "Why aren't you at work, earning money?"

Crossing the room and kissing his fiancé, Xander replied, "Funny thing about work today.  I got there and there was a giant spider web between the structural beams we've already put up.  And two mutant spiders guarding it."

"Was anyone hurt?" Willow asked.

"Nope," Xander replied.  "Probably a good thing I got there a little early.  Only a couple of the guys had arrived and they took one look at it and got back in their cars."

Buffy was already heading for the back room to retrieve a weapon, so she could go deal with the latest spider sighting when Xander continued.

"Luckily, that big axe I used on patrol this summer was in my trunk.  Why, I'm not sure.  But it came in handy in the slicing and dicing of the eight-legged fiends."

Buffy turned around.  "You killed them?"

"Yup," the dark haired man answered proudly.  "The Xan-man killed them real dead."

"Good," the Slayer responded.  "Just be careful." She turned and addressed the rest of the group.  "That goes for everyone.  We saw a guy last night who got caught by the spiders.  Not pretty.  Let's just say being spidered to death rose way up on my list of icky ways to die."

"I can't decide if it's odd or strangely comforting that none of us even blinked at the fact that you have a list of icky ways to die," Xander commented.

"I'm surprised they came into town," Dawn said, ignoring Xander's quip.  "They're named brown recluses because they're just that.  Recluses.  They don't like people."

"The ones last night sure seemed to like people," Spike said.

"Maybe it's the magick," Anya said.

"What magick?" Buffy asked.

"There has to be magick involved somewhere," the shopkeeper replied.  "Spiders don't just grow that big naturally."  She paused before asking a little hesitantly, "Do they?"

"No," Giles replied.  "Generally not."

"Okay, then," Buffy said, taking charge.  "If they're magick, we can track them, right?"

Willow nodded.  "Sure.  I'll do a locator spell."

"Anya," Giles said, "would you please get the ingredients together for a  locator spell?"

The woman nodded and left the group to gather the appropriate components.

"Other than that," Buffy said, "Spike, watch out for assassins and Willow, keep working on tracing anything further on the bank accounts.  Anything else?"

Willow meekly raised her hand.  "Um, my homework."

"What?"

"My assignment for my myth class tomorrow is to write a Where Are They Now ending for the Scourge.  Since Dr. Gage knows that I know Spike, he's going to expect the truth.  And, until we know more about whose sponsoring his grant and where his loyalties lie, I don't think we should share too much with him.  We don't want to sic him on Angel, either."

"Why not?" Spike asked.

Ignoring him, Willow continued, "And if Gage is just a pawn in this, he might be stupid enough to try and find Drusilla or Darla.  We all know how well that would end.  So, what do I tell him?"

"Is there anyway you could just not do the homework?" Buffy asked.

Willow's horrified look at the suggestion was answer enough.

"We are talking about Willow here," Xander pointed out.

"Quite right," Giles said.

"Look," Spike said.  "You and me'll cook up a story, Red.  You have to mention Angel being here a couple years back and me being here now, since he already knows about that.  But other than that, you can just say I haven't told you much and I'm not inclined to talk about it."

"Okay," said Willow.  "That way we don't give away any further secrets and if we decide he's safe and you decide to talk to him, I'm not in trouble for lying."

"Good," Buffy approved. 

Before she could say anything further, a scream rang out from the basement.

"Anya!" Xander cried, leaping up and leading the charge downstairs.

A horrific sight greeted the gang in the basement storeroom.  Anya was standing against the far wall.  Between her and the others were three of the giant spiders, slowly advancing on the screaming woman.

Willow raised her hand and muttered a few words in Latin.  The spiders froze mid-step.  Buffy turned and vaulted up the steps, in search of a weapon.  

"Hurry," Willow called after her.  "This won't hold long!"

By the time Buffy returned from the training room with a sword, Giles had shooed everyone but Xander back up the stairs in order to clear the way for Buffy.  Xander had leapt over the frozen spiders, barely missing them, and was now standing in front of his fiancé, protecting her from the arachnids.

Buffy charged down the stairs and raised her sword behind the middle spider just as the spell wore off.  Her sword clanged down, cleaving the center spider in two.  However, the others, sensing their once easy prey would no longer be simple to catch, skittered away in opposite directions.

"Get out of here!" Buffy yelled at Xander and Anya.

As the two ran past her and up the stairs, Buffy slowly turned in the room, searching for her enemies.  Spotting one of the spiders crouched under a table off to her left, she drew back her arm and threw her sword like a javelin.  Unfortunately, the spider saw it coming and shuffled to the side.  The sword cut off most of one of its legs, but did no further damage.

"Smart, Buff," the Slayer muttered to herself.  "Throw away your only weapon."

"Here you go, pet," a masculine voice said from behind her as another sword was tossed over her shoulder, hilt first.  She grabbed the weapon mid air as Spike continued, gesturing to the table.  "I got that one, but I don't know where the other went."

As the vampire approached the now seven legged spider brandishing the wicked looking axe he carried in front of him, Buffy extended her senses, trying to pinpoint the location of the other arachnid.  However, it wasn't evil; it wasn't demon in origin.  Therefore, her *haha* spidey senses couldn't detect the creature.

A small scuffling noise above the Slayer alerted her to its location.  Buffy jumped to the side, just as the creature dropped down where she had been.  The creature recovered from its fall quickly and managed to dodge the Slayer's first strike.  However, it wasn't quick enough to avoid her second.  As the creature's now detached head rolled away from its still twitching body, Buffy looked up to see Spike looking around for something to wipe the blade of his axe on to clean off the spider innards coating it.  He turned toward her, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Don't even think about it," she warned moving away from him.  "Or I'll clean my sword off on your coat."

"You wouldn't ruin this beauty," Spike said.  "It's got history."

"You're right," Buffy conceded, sounding in no way defeated.  She shrugged.  "And since I plan to take it off you when I kill you, I wouldn't want to ruin it now."

* * * * *

Upstairs, Xander worked on fixing the store's broken window while the others brainstormed ideas for dealing with the spiders.  Willow looked up as the two bickering blondes emerged from the basement.

"Come check this out, Buffy," she said.  

Both slayer and vampire walked to the table and looked at the maps of Sunnydale and Sunnydale's sewer system spread side by side before Willow.  About two inches above them, multiple spots glowed with a soft light.

"The locator spell?" Buffy asked.

"Yup," Willow confirmed.  Then, looking at the maps, she frowned.  "If they're still retaining their nature as recluses, I figured the spiders would be hiding in the sewers."

"And look at the other hot spots," Dawn pointed out.

Buffy frowned.  "Great.  The college and the old high school.  The Initiative caves and the Hellmouth.  Two of my favorite tourist spots."

"Wasn't the Initiative supposed to be destroyed or filled with concrete or something?" Xander asked.

"When was the last time a work order for blocking anything underground was filled in Sunnydale?" Willow asked.

"Quite," Giles said.  "We may have taken care of the Mayor, but I fear that not even a nuclear blast could remove all the corrupt city officials left over from his rein."

As he spoke, some of the spots moved slowly above the maps.

"What's happening?" Buffy asked, then groaned and answered her own question.  "They're moving.  Of course.  Why make this easy?"

"Surely there must be some way we can gather them together and kill them all off at once," Giles said.

"Fake flies the size of german shepherds?" Xander asked from his position near the front of the store. 

"What about pheromones?" Willow asked.  

"Yeah," Buffy said.  "Could we summon them to someplace all at once and, I don't now, blow them up or something?"

"Oh!" Dawn said, "I volunteer the school!"

"Naw," Xander said.  "We already blew that up once.  A second time would just be cliché."

"Not yours," the teen replied, sticking out her tongue at the carpenter.  "Mine!"

"Dear Lord," Giles replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Is this desire to blow up educational institutions genetic?"

"Hey!" Buffy said indignantly.  "I didn't blow up the first one, just…"

"Burnt down the gym?" Willow asked, managing to keep a straight face, despite the humor in her voice.

Spike whistled appreciatively.  "Didn't know you were such a pyro, Slayer.  I'm impressed."

Buffy pointedly ignored the remark and turned to her sister.  "We are not going to blow up your school, Dawn."

"Party pooper!"

"The idea is good, though," Anya said thoughtfully.  "I once cursed a military strategist who paid more attention to war than his wife.  He was always telling her the best military strategy was gaining the high ground.  She wished he'd never be able to reach the high ground again.  I granted her wish both literally and metaphorically."  The ex-demoness sighed, fondly remembering that particular curse.

"Er, yes," Giles said.  "If we can gather all the spiders together, it would be advantageous to pick the battleground carefully."

During Anya's story, Tara had entered the shop.  Upon hearing Giles' comment, she said, "Have you figured out a way to gather them together?"

"We were thinking pheromones," the blonde witch's girlfriend replied.

"Like for mating?" Tara asked.

"That's it!"  Willow exclaimed.  "We should be able to magickally reproduce both male and female mating pheromones.  Even if it's not mating season, if we make it strong enough, they should respond!"

"Okay," Buffy said.  "Sounds like a go.  You guys work on that."

The blonde slayer picked up her bag and slung in over her shoulder.  

"Oh, I already know how to do it," Willow said.  "But it requires some stuff the Magic Box doesn't carry regularly.  We'll have to special order.  We can probably have it here by tomorrow."

"I hate to wait," Buffy replied as she walked to the counter and behind it.  "Guess I'll just patrol tonight and kill the ones I see.  Then we can launch the big assault tomorrow."

She bent down and disappeared behind the counter for a moment.  When Buffy reemerged, she was holding the fire extinguisher usually stored underneath the register.

"Okay if I borrow this, Giles?"

The older man nodded his assent warily. 

In response to the questioning looks she was receiving from everyone, Buffy pulled a can of lighter fluid and a box of matches out of her bag and showed them to her friends.  

"I've got to go clean up the mess Spike and I made last night.  Being caught in a forest fire's not real high on my list of icky ways to die, either."

+++++

A/N:  Next time we get to go back to Willow's class and see where her classmates think the Scourge would/should be now!  Poor Willow, all the information she knows and she can't use it to her academic advantage.  Thanks again for the continuing encouragement and support.  I hope this story is as much fun for you to read as it is for me to write!  ht


	9. So Help Me, Spike...

A/N: Since it's been so long, I'll give you a "Last Time" recap:  
  
One of Willow's teachers at UC Sunnydale is a nutcase who found one of Spike's old diaries from shortly after he was turned and, consequently, is convinced that vamps exist - particularly the four who composed the Scourge of Europe - Angel, Darla, Dru, and Spike. He's in Sunnydale looking for any info. He went to the Magic Box looking for Giles (a local historian) where Anya, with her usual tact and timing, exposed Spike's identity. Don't you just love that girl?  
  
On another front, the Nerds have magically enlarged a bunch of Brown Recluse Spiders and set them loose in the town. Our heroes have killed some, but not nearly all.  
  
And on yet another front, someone's trying to assassinate Spike. The only clue so far? One of the attackers (who the spiders helpfully killed before throwing themselves on Buffy and Spike's swords) was wearing an "Order of Taraka" ring. Oh, and the bank records Willow hacked into indicate that the person paying the Tarakans is Spike's second slayer - you know, the one he killed in the subway and then took that nice leather coat from. Of course, the gang doubts the veracity of a dead woman taking out a hit on her vampire killer. Go figure. They're also kind of wary about Willow's professor and have decided not to give him too much info until they know more about him and his motives.  
  
For today, Willow's class has been assigned to write a "Where Are They Now" kind of paper about the Scourge. And now, the continuation of "Interview With a Scourge".  
  
+++++  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 9  
  
The next day, Willow looked up from rereading her assignment for the fifth time as Buffy sat down next to her. She hated that she couldn't put her knowledge of the Scourge to use for this homework. Withholding the information made her feel like she wasn't doing her best as far as the assignment was concerned. For Willow, failing to do her best in school was tantamount to treason against herself. Why go if you weren't going to try?  
  
"Had so much fun last time you decided school isn't that bad after all?" the redhead asked.  
  
"Oh, no," the blonde replied. "It's still that bad. But more than worth it if I can get any more dirt on Spike."  
  
"I feel kind of bad for the guy," Willow said thoughtfully. "He's obviously worked hard to change his image. Which makes me think he was even more of a geek back in the day."  
  
"Like I said."  
  
"Buffy," Willow admonished quietly. "I've been there. On the fringe of the cool crowd. So have you. It's not any fun. And now that we're the cool crowd, don't you think we should be just a bit nicer?"  
  
"You're right, Will," Buffy replied. "But any teasing is just between friends."  
  
Willow raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Do you really think of him that way? As a friend?"  
  
"I don't know," Buffy admitted after a pause. "Do you?"  
  
"Maybe," Willow said. "Sometimes. But not like I think of the rest of you. And I don't think he thinks of himself as part of the group."  
  
"You're right," the blonde conceded.  
  
Before she could say anything more the vampire in question plopped down in the seat on the other side of Willow, and Buffy quickly changed the topic.  
  
"What did you write about, Wills?"  
  
"Hi, Spike," Willow said, hoping to change the subject again since she was still unhappy with her homework. "What is it with you two and my class?"  
  
"Talked to the man last night," Spike replied, nodding in response to the greeting. "After we chatted, he invited me to come hear what the kiddies had to say about me. Decided to take him up on his offer."  
  
"You talked to him?" Buffy demanded. "What did you tell him? I thought we agreed you wouldn't talk to him until we knew more."  
  
"No," the vampire replied. "You decided I wouldn't talk to him. I never agreed." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter though. Didn't tell him anything he couldn't find out on the street."  
  
"W-w-what?" Willow sputtered. "You told me I couldn't tell him anything and then you told him?"  
  
"Relax, Red," Spike assured her. "I also told him that I don't share with just anyone and that you don't know much about me, so your paper would be just as much fiction as the next guy's."  
  
"Dammit, Spike!" she hissed. "Your life reads like a soap opera! Mine would have been great and all I would have had to do was tell the truth!"  
  
While the three had been arguing, the rest of the students had entered the room. Also, Gage had walked in and prepared for class. He cleared his throat, and the chatter in the room died down.  
  
"Good afternoon, everyone," he began. "Today we're going to see how much you've learned and how creative you can be. As you know, the assignment called for you to choose any one or more of the four characters and write a description of where you think they should be at some point in the future. It doesn't have to be now. Nor does it have to be here. Regardless of the characters and settings you choose, you need to have incorporated some mythic aspects from the course into your story or description. Who'd like to start?"  
  
The blonde girl in front of Willow who had been very talkative during the previous class raised her hand. Gage nodded acknowledgement and she began.  
  
"I wrote about Darla. I took Bram Stoker's Dracula legend and placed Darla as one of his brides. I thought it would be fun to incorporate the two vampire legends."  
  
A derisive snort escaped Spike, and Willow and Buffy turned to glare at him. He looked pointedly at the back of the blonde student's head and then rolled his eyes to indicate how ridiculous he thought her idea to be. Buffy leaned in close to Willow and whispered.  
  
"He's got a point. Can you imagine Darla playing the meek seductress? Other than to catch prey, I mean."  
  
Willow sighed in acquiescence. *This is going to be a long class.*  
  
"Good," Gage said. "That's an interesting concept. Anyone else write about Darla?"  
  
"I did," a dark haired woman in the back volunteered. "I wrote about her during World War II. She seemed exceptionally cruel from the excerpts we read. There was more than one comment about her attraction to death, fear, and pain. In the 20th century, there wasn't a place more filled with those things than Nazi Germany. I wrote about her masquerading as a Jew to get put on one of the deportation trains. Of course, when the train pulled into the concentration camp, everyone inside was dead."  
  
"Now that sounds like something Darla would do," Spike commented quietly to Willow. "In fact, Dru wanted to do something similar once."  
  
Willow's eyes grew wide. "D-d-did she?"  
  
"No, I talked her out of it. Too dangerous. That many desperate people in that small of a space. We'd have likely been mobbed with no way out," he explained with a casual shrug.  
  
Willow mentally shook herself. When faced with chipped, helpful, almost nice Spike on a daily basis, it was easy to forget the evils he was capable of. And while Willow seriously doubted she needed to fear Spike now, even if he was freed from the chip, she often choose to forget the years he'd spent earning his "Big Bad" reputation.  
  
"That would have been a real shame," Buffy whispered snidely, in reference to the idea of Spike and Drusilla being mobbed.  
  
The three turned their attention back to the class in time to hear an older man in the front row describe his homework.  
  
"I wrote about Angelus and Darla in America during the 1920s. From the descriptions you gave us of Angelus' desire to attack high society from within, and of Darla's taste for the finer things in life, I think they would have fit in well with the overall excess of that era. They would have loved the parties, the drinking, the smoking, the almost hedonistic lifestyle many in the upper class adopted during that decade."  
  
"Intriguing," Gage said.  
  
"Yeah, too bad old Angelus was sucking down rats by then," Spike said.  
  
He ignored the swift elbow in the ribs from Willow, but Buffy's icy glare was enough to convince the vampire to drop that line of commentary.  
  
"Other stories about Angelus?" the professor asked.  
  
"I wrote about him running a school for serial killers," said the boy who had joked about being the thing that goes bump in the night a few classes back. "I think he'd be real successful. I mean, to survive, a vampire would have to adapt to the times, right?"  
  
"Yeah, unless he finds a look he likes," Buffy whispered to Willow just loudly enough for Spike to overhear. "Then he can feel free to wear the same clothes for the next thirty years."  
  
"So, I'm thinking," the boy continued, "that he'd have to adapt to a world with all the cool, high-tech gadgetry we have now. Plus, what better credentials than being part of the Scourge of Europe, right?"  
  
"Interesting," Gage said, noncommitently. "Who else?" He paused. When no one volunteered, he looked at Willow and asked, "Miss Rosenberg?"  
  
"Yeah," Willow said nervously. "Um, I wrote about Spike, er, William and Drusilla. I wrote about them a few years ago. In my.story, they are attacked by a mob because Drusilla, being insane and all, didn't hide her true nature well enough. I set it somewhere in eastern Europe, like say, Prague, because I think that part of the world is more likely to still believe in vampires and other supernatural creatures today."  
  
"Good," Gage smiled at her, sensing her nervousness, before turning to address the entire class. "Now, what would you say if I told you that I had more writings by the same author, detailing these characters approximately 120 later?"  
  
Buffy and Willow exchanged a look. Obviously Gage was going to use the information Spike had given him and pass it off as the author's "future writings."  
  
"That would be about now," the blonde girl in the front row pointed out quickly.  
  
"You're right," Gage said. "Do you think anyone was close to what the author envisioned?"  
  
Without waiting for a reply, Gage continued.  
  
"Before I tell you what the author wrote, I should warn you that the characters don't end up in places where you might expect. I want you to think about the hows and whys of their journeys. Just like the first writings, this is also from the view of William. So, first he tells us what happened to the others, and then to himself."  
  
"Does he now?" Willow whispered to her two companions. Both she and Buffy were wondering just how much Spike had told the professor.  
  
"First, let's talk about Angelus and Darla. William tells us that the two elder vampires left him and Drusilla shortly after the turn of the century. He isn't sure why. Perhaps they were in search of greener pastures. That was the end of the Scourge proper. But it by no means ended the violence the four were capable of inflicting."  
  
"No pissed-off gypsies, then?" Buffy quietly asked, not terribly surprised at the omission.  
  
Spike just shook his head and turned his attention back to Gage. Buffy though she saw the start of a self-satisfied smirk on the vampire's face before she, too, turned her attention back to the professor.  
  
"Darla was the first to die," the professor began.  
  
"First?" Buffy whispered. Receiving no reply from the smirking vampire two seats over, the slayer crossed her arms and huffed as she sat back in her seat to learn of the "futures" Spike had devised for his vampire family with the rest of the class.  
  
"She was killed by a nun in the early 1970's. She had infiltrated a convent with the goal of turning all of the nuns into vampires before the Pope was due to visit. Unfortunately for her, one of the nuns recognized her for what she was and killed her before Darla could get too far in her plan."  
  
"Quite creative," Willow said appreciatively to Spike. Then her expression turned sour. "You couldn't have helped me come up with something more interesting than getting mobbed in Prague with an imagination like that?"  
  
The vampire shrugged carelessly. "If I'd given you all my ideas, Red, what would I have told the good professor?"  
  
"As for Angelus," Gage continued. "His story is perhaps the most complex and tragic. In fact, it's almost Shakespearian in the scope of its tragedy."  
  
Buffy shot Spike a glare promising sever retribution if he'd told Gage a version of events too close to the truth or one with too much detail.  
  
"A few years after Darla's death, Angelus had an affair with a young, Jewish witch." Upon hearing Gage's words, Buffy's glare was joined by one from Willow. While Spike knew Buffy was capable of causing him serious physical pain, he was more concerned about Willow. Not only did he give the wicca credit for being able to dream up more creative punishments than a Slayer-sponsored ass-kicking, but he also knew the redhead had the power to back up any such threats.  
  
"Put your wand away, Red," he muttered. "It's not you." Willow relaxed slightly.  
  
"The witch's name was Shelia." Even before Gage finished the sentence, Spike snickered.  
  
"It's your mum."  
  
Willow clenched her teeth together and drew in a deep breath, valiantly fighting the urge to turn the obnoxious vampire into a giant fly that Buffy could feed to the spiders still at large in Sunnydale.  
  
The more Willow thought about it, thought, the more entertained she was by the image of her very conservative mother who had once tried to burn her at the stake practicing witchcraft and dating a vampire.  
  
"Now, as you might imagine," Gage said, eyeing the exchange between Willow, Buffy, and Spike dubiously. "Angelus wasn't really a one woman kind of guy. Inevitably he cheated on her. When Shelia found out, she called on a powerful vengeance demon to help her curse her unfaithful lover."  
  
"What's a vengeance demon?" the blonde woman sitting in front of Buffy asked.  
  
Gage smiled, pleased that the tale was keeping his audience so rapt. He explained, "It's a demon who specializes in granting wishes to women who have been wronged in love. Whatever the woman who summons the demon asks for, it will be granted."  
  
By this time, both Buffy and Willow had realized what was coming next, so they were able to keep straight faces with little difficulty when Gage revealed the vengeance demon's identity.  
  
"So, Shelia summoned Anyanka - that was the vengeance demon's name - and she wished for a spell to curse Angelus with a soul, so he would feel pain and guilt for all of his evil actions over the years. You see, vampires are inherently remorseless creatures, so Shelia thought that this pain would be comparable to the pain he had caused her."  
  
"Wow!" a man to Spike's left exclaimed. "That's vicious!"  
  
"Yes, yes it is," Spike agreed with a self-satisfied smirk, rather pleased with the fate he'd envisioned for Angel, even if it was pretty close to the truth.  
  
"The now fully souled vampire changed his name from Angelus to Angel to help distinguish between the two personalities," Gage said as he continued to explain events to his students. "As you know, Angelus was ruthless, cruel, and extremely violent. Angel, on the other hand, was kind, compassionate, and felt extreme guilt for his past actions. And here's where the story takes a fairy tale turn. About 16 years later, Angel fell in love with a beautiful young woman. The catch? She was the current Vampire Slayer."  
  
"Of course she was," Buffy muttered resignedly under her breath. While thankful that so far Spike hadn't mangled Angel too much, she was anxious about what spin the blonde vampire might have put on her role in the whole "moment of pure happiness" thing.  
  
Seeing the blonde girl stiffen in her seat and following her line of thinking, Spike leaned over and whispered, "Oh relax, Slayer. It's not like I told him you were such a good lay Angel couldn't hold onto his soul."  
  
Buffy kept her gaze trained on Gage, pointedly ignoring the vampire's "reassurance."  
  
Completely caught up in the story and forgetting that one of the key players was sitting in his audience, Gage continued. "As their love grew, so did Angel's happiness. While still unable to forget about his past sins, he started to allow himself to believe that redemption was possible, that he could once again find peace. Unfortunately, what neither Shelia nor her vengeance demon told him was that, while in possession of his soul, if he ever experienced a moment of pure happiness, one where he forgot entirely the pain he was supposed to be feeling, he would lose his soul. This, of course, was a double edged sword. To experience such a moment, he would have to embrace the soul and try to live again. However, to fully succeed in this endeavor would mean a loss of the very thing that made it possible - his soul. If that happened, he would return to being the violent, brutal creature he had been as Angelus, unquestionably damned once again."  
  
"But if Angel didn't know about this." the boy behind the Scooby trio who had spoken trailed off as he searched for the right phrase.  
  
"Happiness clause," Buffy supplied with a sigh.  
  
"Thanks," he nodded at her before continuing. "If he didn't know about this happiness clause, how could he avoid it?"  
  
"Therein lies the true tragedy," Willow said sadly, recalling the months of terror and death that could have been avoided had Angel only known about the clause in his curse.  
  
"Indeed," Gage agreed, smiling sadly at Buffy, at last remembering that she was the slayer who had lived through this. He cleared his throat and resumed his tale. "When the vampire and slayer first confessed their love to one another, he experienced that moment of pure happiness and his soul fled. He spent the next six months practicing his old habits, stalking the slayer and her friends, even killing some of them. One of those he killed was a teacher close to the slayer. The other was her closest male friend."  
  
"Xander?" Willow demanded of the vampire next to her in a whisper. "You had him kill Xander?"  
  
Spike shrugged slightly before whispering his reply. "Trust me, Red. You have no idea how close the whelp came to dying on more than one occasion during Angelus' little reign of terror."  
  
The truthfulness in Spike's tone sobered Willow to the point that she almost missed Gages' next words.  
  
"The slayer's other best friend, a young witch named Maple, vowed to avenge their friends' deaths."  
  
"Nice." The softness of Willow's comment did not lessen the sarcasm in the young woman's voice. "Why didn't you just call me 'Oak' or 'Pine?'"  
  
Before Spike could reply, Gage continued. "Her mother had also been a powerful witch before her death, and Maple decided to see if she could find an appropriate spell in her mother's spellbooks." Gage paused before asking, "Any guesses as to her mother's identity?"  
  
"Shelia!" various students around the room shouted out, eager to hear if the slayer's witch friend was indeed the daughter of Angel's curser.  
  
"That's right," Gage answered, smiling. "In her mother's things, Maple found a journal detailing Shelia's affair with Angelus and his subsequent cursing."  
  
A disturbing thought occurred to Willow, and she went stiff in her chair as she remembered the rough dates of Angelus and Shelia's "affair." While keeping her gaze locked on Professor Gage, she purposely pitched her voice low and threatening as she spoke to the vampire at her side.  
  
"So help me, Spike. If Angel turns out to be my father, you're going to turn into something cute and furry."  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Willow noted with satisfaction that Spike paled and swallowed visibly.  
  
tbc  
  
+++++  
  
A/N: Whew! I was beginning to think I'd never get that chapter done. Of course, ff.net being offline just encouraged me to procrastinate more. Not to mention to the demands of real life. Honestly, what was the world thinking demanding I divert attention from my fanfiction efforts? Thankfully, things have settled back down, and this chapter is done. That means the ball should resume its momentum.  
  
As for the anonymous comment pointing out inconsistencies in the timeline - guilty as charged and sorry about that. I'll get those few diamond references out of there, as this is still set in a post "All The Way," pre "Once More, With Feeling" world. Thanks for the continued support of this story, and I promise the next chapter will reveal Spike and Dru's fates - at least according to our favorite blonde vamp. ht 


	10. The Tragedy of the Souled Vampire

CHAPTER 10

"In Shelia's account of the affair, Maple found the details for the curse," Gage said, relating the details of the "true" account, as given to him by Spike.  "She performed the spell and Angelus' soul was returned."

"I'm curious, Professor," Willow interrupted Gage, her voice solicitous and polite sounding to the rest of the class.  To Buffy, though, the undercurrent of tension it was laced with came through loud and clear.  Glancing in concern at her friend, the blonde noticed Willow had on her most innocent face – one she used around the Scoobies only when she was factiously feigning naiveté.  Buffy's suspicions were confirmed when she also noted Spike's posture on the other side of the witch.  While he remained slumped, she could almost feel the tension radiating out of his body.  It was an unusual vibe to be picking up off the normally cocky and self-assured vampire, especially in public.

Gage turned his attention to the redhead who had spoken and waited for her to continue, pleased by her interest in the story.  He had been surprised the previous evening when Spike had informed him that Willow wasn't all that familiar with his history, nor that of the other members of the Scourge – especially when it came to Angelus' time in Sunnydale.  Mentally, Gage shrugged the seeming discrepancy off, assuming Willow had joined the group after the events he was currently recounting.

"The dates of Shelia's," Willow paused, slightly tripping over the next word, "…affair with Angel seem very convenient."

"Ah, you have a good eye, er ear, for detail, Miss Rosenberg," Gage said.  "Indeed in fictitious stories illicit love affairs often produce children who later play a substantive role."

"But I thought vampires were impotent," Buffy interjected, having figured out the direction in which the tale was rapidly careening.  Batting her eyelashes to play up the ditzy blonde image she knew others often so easily relegated her to, the young woman continued.  "I mean, they said so on that one movie."

"Hey now!" Spike sat up indignantly.  As all eyes turned to him, he quickly remembered where he was and that neither the stinging comment about how knowledgeable Buffy really was in the area of vampire sexual activity nor the leer and offer to show her how potent _some _vampires could be would be acceptable.  While he had no problem with taunting Buffy – she wouldn't hit him in front of all these people – Spike was still aware of the irritated redhead next to him.  Deciding that, in this case, discretion was the better part of survival, Spike continued, his tones matching the innocence the two women were portraying on their faces.  "Didn't you read the assignment?  I believe William–"

"Yes, well," Gage interrupted loudly, cutting off the two blonds.  By now he had figured out that Buffy's comment was only to bait Spike, and the professor hoped to avoid any comments from the group which would disclose their insider knowledge of the Scourge, like their remarks about Drusilla had the previous class.  "What Miss Rosenberg is asking is whether or not Angelus was indeed Maple's father.  The answer to that question is 'yes.'"

Willow allowed herself to take satisfaction in the fact that the vampire at her side had subtly shifted as far away from her as the seat would allow, which wasn't more than a couple of inches.  Now that she thought about it, Willow didn't really mind Spike's exaggerations all that much.  In fact, some of them were quite humorous.  But there was no reason to let Spike know that.  Willow's eyes lit up as she decided it was time to remind Spike he wasn't the only one with teeth, even if hers were a bit more mystical than actual canines.  She reached over casually and patted Spike's knee before giving it a hard squeeze.  Willow felt his leg go stiff under her grip and allowed a wicked smile to cross her face.  Focusing her mind, the witch cast her voice into the vampire's head and spoke slowly and deliberately.  _Big._  Fluffy.  White.  Bunny.__

"So," Willow continued aloud, her voice again innocent, having lost all the menace it contained when being projected into Spike's mind.  "Let's see if I have this straight.  Shelia and Angel–, Angelus have an affair, the product of which is an illicit love child, Maple.  Later, when Angel falls for Maple's best friend, the Vampire Slayer, he loses the soul Shelia and the vengeance demon Anyanka cursed him with.  Maple re-curses Angel and finds out the truth about her parentage."

Gage nodded confirmation and one of the students seated a few rows back from the trio piped up hopefully, "So, what happened then, did he and the Slayer live happily ever after?"

Next to Willow, Spike again shifted in his seat.  While it was hardly an unusual occurrence for the normally hyperactive vampire to fail to sit still, Willow noted the movement and accurately guessed that what was to come was more exaggerated fabrication.

"No," Gage replied to the other student's question sadly.  "Unfortunately, Angelus, or rather Angel, as the souled version was called, was not fated to a happy ending."

Both women picked up on the verb tense, but it was Buffy who leaned over to glare at Spike as she softly inquired in a dangerous tone, "Was?"

Turning a sad gaze Buffy's way, as Gage once again remembered that he was speaking of the Slayer's love's tragic end, the professor continued.  "After regaining his soul, Angel worked to find redemption.  He worked as kind of a modern day superhero – fighting evil wherever it lurked.  His motto was to help those in need.  It was this altruistic desires that were his final undoing."

Buffy sighed and muttered, "I know I'm going to regret this, but," before addressing Gage at a normal speaking level.  "What happened?"

Gage was momentarily taken aback that the young Slayer was the one to pose the question.  Of course, considering the vampire's tragic end, he supposed she simply wanted this portion of the story to be over with as quickly as possible.  As kindly as he could, he explained to the rest of the class.  "One day, Angel climbed a tree to rescue a kitten."

At this point, Willow knew that Angel's "death" was going to be as ridiculous as possible and she bit her lip to prevent any outward reaction from showing.  Knowing Spike, the next part of the tale could be anything from Angel being struck by lighting and bursting into flame to the vampire remembering he was afraid of heights and being stuck in the tree until the sun rose, at which point he would again combust.

"Unfortunately, the animal was very high up where the branches are much thinner," Gage continued.  "Angel underestimated his own weight, and the branch he was standing on broke, sending the vampire plummeting towards the ground."

"You think that's Spike's way of calling Angel fat?" Buffy whispered to Willow.  The redhead only nodded, still trying to maintain her composure, waiting for the punch line of the story.

"Normally such a fall, even from a great height, wouldn't be enough to seriously harm a vampire," Gage said.  "However, the branch Angel had been climbing on twisted under him, and he landed on it."

Both Slayer and witch realized at the same time where the story was headed.  Buffy closed her eyes and clenched her fists, knowing she couldn't just haul off and slug Spike in the middle of the classroom.  Willow, deciding that she wasn't going to have to jump between the two, glanced over at the vampire and saw Spike's patented smirk firmly in place.

"The limb had twisted just enough that one of its branches pierced Angel's heart, killing him as surely as a wooden stake."

* * * * *

Tara paused in the hallway, pulling her shoulder bag around in front of her as she dug through it, looking for the right book.  Her class had let out early, so she was going to wait for Willow outside the redhead's classroom.  The blonde witch's motions stilled as she heard a faint skittering noise.  Quickly looking up, she glimpsed something moving around the corner ahead of her.  She wasn't sure what she's seen, but whatever it was had been low to the ground and fast moving.  Tara was also left with the unsettling impression that the thing had many, many legs.

A chill went up the young woman's spine as her mind jumped to the logical conclusion.  She wanted to dismiss the idea that it was one of the spiders outright.  After all, they weren't supposed to be social creatures.  They shouldn't be in such a heavily populated area.  On the other hand, Tara reasoned, they shouldn't be that big either.  And the university did have the dubious distinction of sitting atop the caves and tunnels the Initiative had once called home.

Dropping the book she'd finally managed to located back into the bag and instead withdrawing the stake she carried there for emergencies, the blonde witch stole cautiously forward, straining her ears for the slightest noise that would tell her where whatever she'd glimpsed was.

At the corner, Tara stopped, mentally cursing the well lit hallway for not casting shadows.  In the short time between when she'd first spotted something amiss and when she'd reached the corner, the witch had convinced herself that it was defiantly one of the spiders, and further that the spider was now waiting just around the corner, on the ceiling, ready to descend the second she stepped under it.  Shadows would have given her more of an idea of where anything lurking might be.  As it was, the bright florescent lights pretty much eliminated that possibility.  

Carefully Tara snuck her head around the corner, trying to look at the ceiling, walls, and floor all at the same time.  While nothing dropped down on her from above, she allowed her gaze to travel farther down the corridor.  What she saw made her stop short.  Not ten feet down the hall, the spider she'd seen – and indeed that's what it was – was climbing a net of silky strands that reached nearly all the way to the ceiling.  There was just enough room at the top for the spider to clear the web before descending on the other side.  

About six feet farther down the hall was another, identical net.  Only this one had three of the monstrous spiders climbing its outside wall, also headed for the space between the two webs.  While this scene was certainly an unpleasant image and reminder of just how big the damn things were, what really chilled Tara's blood was what was between the two web-walls.  Huddled together, their backs against one of the hallway's concrete walls, were a trio of young girls in matching sorority sweatshirts – probably freshmen, Tara decided. 

The hall was eerily quiet as the hideous creatures silently made their ascent.  Tara's mind raced.  Maybe she could have taken out one with her stake, but not four.  And if they got to the girls . . .

A faint whimper from one of the victims reached Tara's ears, spurring the blonde into action.  Tearing her eyes from the scene, she raced past the corridor the spiders had commandeered, towards the classroom Willow was in.  Tara wasn't certain she and Willow would be able to handle the spiders themselves, but there wasn't time to get anyone else.

When she skidded to a stop outside the classroom's door, she felt a rush of relief wash over her as she spotted Buffy and Spike in the class with her girlfriend.

* * * * *

Willow fought the laughter she felt bubbling up inside her.  Professor Gage had just revealed to the class what "the author" had envisioned for the character of William the Bloody.  A giggle escaped her and she quickly started coughing, hoping to cover it.  Next to her Buffy was being less subtle in hiding her laughter.

"Oh shut up," Spike grumbled from Willow's other side.  "It's not that farfetched."

"It really, really is," Willow began.  She stopped speaking, though, as she caught a glimpse of a familiar form skidding to a stop through the classroom door's window.  What worried Willow the most wasn't that Tara was outside the classroom, nor that she had obviously been running.  It was the stake she could still see clutched in the other witch's hand.

_Buffy and Spike.__  Now!_  Tara's voice rang in Willow's head, the tension in the blonde's voice loud and clear, even though the statement was telepathic.  

_What is it?  Do you need me, too?_ Willow asked even as she elbowed the blonds on either side of her and nodded towards the door.

_Four spiders._ Tara's reply, broadcast to Buffy and Spike as well as Willow this time, was terse as she assessed the pros and cons.  If all three left the room, it was likely the rest of the class would follow, which meant more possibility of someone getting in the way, not to mention witnesses.  _They have three girls trapped._

Without having heard Willow's question, Buffy put her hand on the redhead's arm as she rose.  "Stay," she whispered, having arrived at the same conclusion as Tara about the problems extra people could cause.  "Don't let them follow us."

Gage stopped his lecture mid-word and looked at the Slayer and vampire in surprise as the rose in unison and quickly headed for the door.  When both ignored him, he turned his questioning gaze to Willow.  She smiled in what she hoped was a comforting manner and shook her head slightly, trying to convey that everything was alright.  From the enthusiasm he'd exhibited upon meeting Spike, she suspected that if he knew what was going on, he'd be the first one out the door, following the warriors.

* * * * *

Buffy only slowed her mad dash down the hall long enough to smash open a glass case and extract the fire axe inside.  As she and Spike rounded the corner, she was only marginally surprised to see that he had produced a large, wicked looking knife from somewhere under his duster.  By this time the spiders had all cleared the tops of their respective web-walls.  The lone spider was about half-way down the inside of his wall, while the others were higher up on their own.  

Quickly glancing at Tara, Buffy noticed for the first time the stake the blonde witch was still clutching.  Knowing that such a close range weapon wasn't going to be much good against the spiders, especially not for someone with limited fighting experience, like Tara, Buffy gestured with the axe and said, "Go see if you can find another one of these."

Tara nodded and took off down the hall.  Exchanging a wary glance with Spike as they both remembered how sticky the spider's webs they were going to have to go through were, Buffy took a breath.

"Let's go, Double O Peroxide." 

+++++++++++++++++++++++

A/N:  What's that you say?  I should be drug out into the street and shot for making you wait eleven whole months (to the day) for a new chapter?  Well, yeah, I supposed I'd have to agree with you there.  But then you would never get the rest of this story, now would you?  And in the next couple of weeks, you've got a really good chance of hearing the end.  So, please, hold off on any violence until then. 

And thanks if you're still reading, even though it's probably been long enough for you to forget the story.  I appreciate it.  And I swear I will finish this.  In a reasonable time frame, this time. 


End file.
